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July 27, 2008

Every Given Sunday

All Busy-ness 'Round the Major League Table

by John Perrotto

The idea of sending a baseball Dream Team to the Olympics has been dead a while now. Major League Baseball would never consider shutting down its season for two weeks to send an All-Star team to an Olympiad, and furthermore, baseball will be discontinued as an Olympic sport after next month's games in Beijing. The opening ceremonies are August 8, and the baseball competition will be held from August 13-23. Thus, baseball will be taking a back seat to a lot of other sports in the Olympics. You have to search to find the games on television, and strain even further to find much coverage online or in print.

But to a guy like Jeremy Cummings, one of 24 minor leaguers who will be representing the United States, the Olympics mean everything. The right-hander is pitching for the Rays' Triple-A Durham farm club in the International League, and at age 31, is not considered a prospect in an organization stocked with many talented young players. "What a joy it is to be on this team, and what an honor it is to be with these guys," Cummings said. "For me, I've never been to the big leagues. So this, right here, is my big leagues. To get the opportunity to play for my country is above and beyond the big leagues for me. I'm really excited to go out and play for my country. It is an honor in itself."

That's the way everyone on the US team feels, whether they are someone like Cummings, or a top prospect such as Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler. "When you're growing up playing baseball, you dream of making it to the major leagues and getting to a World Series, but this is going to be very special in its own right," said the 22-year-old Fowler, normally found playing for Double-A Tulsa in the Texas League this year. "To be able to walk into that stadium during the opening ceremonies wearing USA across my chest... I can't imagine I'm ever going to have too many bigger thrills in my life."

The United States team will be guided by former major league manager Davey Johnson, and has an interesting mix of prospects and older players. Among the prospects are Fowler, Athletics left-hander Brett Anderson and right-hander Brett Cahill, Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta, Phillies infielder Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson, Indians outfielder Matt LaPorta, Rangers catcher Taylor Teagarden, and Rockies right-hander Casey Weathers. All played for the US team in the All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago. "I'd take my chances with the talent in this clubhouse," Teagarden said after the Futures Game. "I think we'd obviously be a pretty strong team in any tournament."

"You don't know what you're going to face in the Olympics, though I would expect teams like Cuba and Japan to be very tough," added Anderson. "We do have a lot of good young talent, though. I think we would match up well."