Archive for October, 2007

Olympic Baseball Qualifier schedule did not change

olympicbaseball October 26th, 2007

According to IBAF president Harvey Schiller, changing Olympic Baseball Qualifier schedule is not possible.

The reason is due to the Olympic qualifier already sold the marketing and television rights and it’s based on the initial dates of March 3-9, if change, IBAF will face serious legal challenges. Schiller also complain about previous IBAF left some mess.

Officials can’t alter dates of Olympic baseball qualifier
International Baseball Federation president says ‘hands are tied’
Last Updated: Thursday, October 25, 2007 | 9:44 PM ET CBC Sports

Canada’s national men’s baseball team will not get its wish to have next spring’s Olympic qualifying tournament rescheduled.

International Baseball Federation (IBF) president Harvey Schiller said Thursday his hands are tied from changing the event beyond March 7-14 in Taiwan.

Baseball Canada officials are upset that the IBF ignored their calls and those from Australia and Mexico to change the dates.

As it stands, the three countries won’t have access to most of their best available players, while the Asian entrants in the qualifier will have no such problems in securing the release of their top talent.

“That’s why they elected me president, so they wouldn’t have this junk going on in the future,” said Schiller, who replaced the late Aldo Notari in March. “The problem we’ve inherited is mismanagement and we’ve inherited a lot of things we need to make better going forward.

“We inherited a mess and we’re not going to let these things happen again.”
That could be moot as baseball is off the Olympic lineup following the 2008 Beijing Games, scheduled for Aug. 8-24. The earliest the sport could return is 2016.

Host China, the United States, Cuba and the Netherlands have already qualified for next year’s tourney. An Asian team will be added Dec. 3 following a Taiwan tournament, with the final three berths to be determined next spring.

Canadian officials wanted the qualifier to be pushed back to April, when most spring training camps have wrapped up and the rosters of major-league teams are settled.

Their proposal to split the qualifier into two tournaments wasn’t possible, said Schiller.

All players not in the majors are eligible to play as long as their teams release them.

“Unfortunately, this tournament has more relevant importance because of our goal to get back on the Olympic program,” said Schiller.

“I was disappointed that we couldn’t find a compromise that would allow the best players from every country to participate.”

He added organizers of the Olympic qualifier sold the marketing and television rights to a Japanese company that has subsequently sold sponsorships and broadcasting rights based on the initial dates of March 3-9.

Schiller said moving the tournament to the current dates was a best-case scenario.

“It’s counter to the agreements we have on television and marketing,” he said. “We’d be facing serious legal challenges based on our previous agreements.”

So the Olympic Baseball Qualifier game (relate to the last three team) is schedule on March 7-14 in Taiwan, and scheduled of 2008 Beijing Games is Aug. 8-24.

Korea target on Japan, Taiwan

olympicbaseball October 25th, 2007

Korea are prepareing the Asian Preliminaries for the Beijing Olympics, they hope to beat Japan, Taiwan, according to Donga.com.

First Step for Olympic Baseball Team: Beat Japan, Taiwan.
OCTOBER 25, 2007 03:19
The element of surprise is key to quick victories.
Coach Yoo Seung-ahn said that in this Asian Preliminaries for the Beijing Olympics, Park Chan-ho is a likely relief pitcher candidate.
During the last World Baseball Championships, Park started in four matches and held the opposition scoreless for 10 innings (3 saves). It was a mediocre season for Park, however, as he only got to start once while playing for the New York Mets, allowing 6 hits and 7 runs. After being traded to Houston, he recorded an ERA of 5.97 and he had 6 wins and 14 losses in triple-A ball.
While taking on the role of a commentator during the Korean Series game between SK and Doosan on October 22, Park said “Whatever role I am given on the national team, I will bring my A game to guarantee Korea makes it through the preliminaries.”
The two oldest veterans, Song Jin-woo (41) of Hanwha and Gu Dae-seong will provide a much-needed element of surprise when the team faces left-handed pitchers.
Song Seung-jun is set to join the team later.
Initially it was confirmed that Choi Hee-seop (Kia), who dominated the game against the U.S. during the WBC by hitting three big home runs, would not be joining the Olympic effort.
The KBO Technical Committee held a conference with national team coach Kim Gyeong-mun (Doosan) and coach Seon Dong-ryeol (Samsung) and concluded that Choi is not yet 100 percent and needs time to recharge and recuperate. However if Korea is disqualified after the preliminaries, and has to participate in a second preliminary against South American and European teams, Choi will be called upon to join the squad.
A KBO representative said, “Choi Hee-seop and pitcher Song Seung-jun (Lotte) are both veterans who have played in Major League Baseball, and they will join the national team sooner rather than later.”

However, they got bad news on the lineup, the power source provider Lee Seung-yeop is missing the Asian Championship. :

South Korea’s Lee to miss Olympic qualifiers
TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Big-hitting South Korean Lee Seung-yeop is set to miss his country’s Olympic baseball qualifiers due to injury, Japan’s Yomiuri Giants said on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old slugger, who is currently playing for Japan’s best-supported club, will have surgery to repair ligament damage to his left hand later this week.
The Asian qualifiers for next year’s Beijing Olympics take place in Taiwan from Dec. 1-3.
“I’m having surgery now because I wanted to finish rehab in time for spring training,” said Lee. “If I am selected to play in the Olympics I pledge to do everything for the Korean people.”