MESA, AZ —They screamed and high-fived, they ran around, and then the chants began:
“USA-USA-USA.’
This was the scene in the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants’ clubhouses along with plenty of others throughout spring training Sunday morning, the moment Jack Hughes scored the winning overtime goal to beat Canada for USA’s first men’s hockey gold medal since 1980 – two days after the women’s gold medal victory over Canada.
“I mean, we were all in here just going crazy, jumping up and down when Hughes scored,’ Cubs All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman told USA TODAY Sports. “I mean, if that doesn’t fire you up to play for your country, I don’t know what does.’’
New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean, who will pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, echoed Bregman’s sentiments talking to reporters in Port St. Lucie, Florida: “Just watching the hockey game, how hard these guys [competed] for their country, I think that is something that’s firing me up even more than I already was.’
Says Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who also is playing for Team USA in the WBC: “Man, we were all in here geeking. It’s so cool. And now we get a chance to go for the gold, too.’
Two years from now, Major League Baseball hopes to replicate the same emotional scene in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. They are expecting to allow their big-league players to participate in the Olympics for the first time in history.
“I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game,” commissioner Rob Manfred said earlier in February. “I think we’ve got a lot of players interested in doing it and I feel pretty good about the idea that we’ll get there.”
Celebrate USA Hockey gold d with commemorative book
Will MLB players play in 2028 Olympics?
The MLB proposal with LA28 organizers still must be approved by the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, but the tentative plan is an extended All-Star breaks, permitting the major-league players to play in the Olympics at Dodger Stadium. MLB still would have an All-Star Game around its normal date, which likely would be played in San Diego, San Francisco or Las Vegas. The selected players could then proceed to play in the six-day, six-team Olympics tournament from July 13-19.
It’s also why the WBC, which begins March 5, has greater significance since the top two teams – besides the USA – would automatically qualify to be among in the Olympics. USA gets an automatic berth since it’s the host country.
“I think everyone is super fired up for the Olympics after watching the hockey game,’ Cubs infielder/outfielder Matt Shaw said. “We had like 60 guys in here watching and yelling. It was such a cool thing. I mean, if there was ever such an opportunity to play in the Olympics, it would be so awesome.
“Right now, the WBC is our Olympics. I love watching that as much as the World Seires. But to actually play in the Olympics, wow.’
MVPs and All-Stars from Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper to Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts and Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber have been advocating for years for the opportunity to play in the Olympics. Now, after negotiations with the LA28 organizers, all that remains is the union signing off to finalize their childhood dreams.
“Representing your country,’ Harper told reporters in Florida, “there’s nothing better. The feeling of putting ‘USA’ on your chest and playing for something so much bigger than yourself, representing your whole country, there’s nothing greater.’’
Says Betts: “Absolutely, absolutely I want to play in the Olympics. It would be an unbelievable honor.’
Harper and other players on Team USA in the WBC were emotional talking about USA hockey’s gold medal victory, calling it inspirational for their bid to win the gold again after losing to Japan in the 2023 title game.
“This is our time to represent our country,” Schwarber told reporters after USA’s gold medal victory. “It gives you that motivation, you know. Being that we’re going to be heading into that and knowing what to expect. Obviously, we’re not Olympians. But it’s our mini-Olympics.’’
The Americans’ hockey gold medal games actually reinforced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ desire to become USA’s Olympic coach.
Roberts, the son of a U.S. Marines Sergeant, certainly is the natural choice with the USA games at Dodger Stadum where he has led the Dodgers to three World Series championships. Roberts, who also graduated from UCLA, has international experience, too, representing the United States at the 1999 Pan American Games. The tournament helped qualify the USA team for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where USA won the gold medal with Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda.
“We talk about doing things bigger than yourselves,’ Roberts said, “and then being part of something for your country and watching the U.S. hockey team. That was fun for both men and women. So, if I do have that opportunity, that would be something I’d be very excited about and very humbled.
“It’s hard to imagine a bigger honor.’
Olympics bigger than the WBC?
While players relish playing in the WBC, they didn’t grow up watching the WBC. It only came into existence in 2006.
But virtually everyone grew up watching the Olympics at some juncture of their lives.
“I mean, I love the Olympics,’ said Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who will be playing for the first time in the WBC. “I love hockey. Growing up, USA could never beat Canada. They just had such a lineup of dudes. Canada was so superior in the sport. You were always fired up USA vs. Canada.
“So, I mean it’s very cool that we can go represent our country right after that. It really fires me up. That’s so exciting for us.’
Schwarber, who will be playing in his second WBC, says the Olympic experience would take it to a whole different level.
“We all grew up watching the Olympics, and being kids, just tuning into all different kinds of events,’ Schwarber said. “Back in the day, the TV dinners, go get the pull-out tray, throw it on the couch, all the family sitting down at night.
“We’re watching the Olympics. We’re watching the gymnasts, the swimming, the diving. Those were all big ones. I loved watching the sprinters run.
“It’d just be great for our game in general. Everyone would see it, and it might reach a broader audience than just some countries that are really in tune to it.”
This will be the third time that Los Angeles is hosting the Summer Olympics, last in 1984. The Americans finished runner-up in the baseball demonstration tournament, losing to Japan in the championship game.
That collegiate team featured future stars like Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, home run champion Mark McGwire, and All-Stars Will Clark and Bobby Witt. There were 13 players drafted in the first round of the 1985 draft that year.
Now, more than 40 years later, Witt’s son, Bobby Witt Jr., could be playing in the Olympics, too. He’ll be a primary shortstop on the American’s WBC team this year.
“It’s so cool representing your country,’ Witt Jr. said, “and you’re coming together as one. What’s better than that?’
When Ohtani and Dodgers starter Yosihinobu Yamamoto were asked this spring which meant more to them, winning the World Series for the Dodgers or winning a gold medal for Japan, they said it was impossible to choose.
“That would be so cool, playing for your country,’ Dodgers teammate Blake Snell said. “That’s the ultimate, playing for your country. It would be way bigger than the WBC.’
Perhaps Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer best summed up the feelings by every player dreaming one day to be selected for that 2028 Olympic team.
“It would be incredible to be an Olympian,’’ Dreyer said. “I think the only thing more special than playing in the big leagues would be to represent your country. The World Baseball Classic is great, but the Olympics is just unreal.
“Can you imagine?’’
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