Dominican sluggers stamp final baseball ticket to Tokyo

The six-team field for the Olympic Baseball Competition at the Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) Olympic Games is now set, following the Dominican Republic’s 8-5 win over Venezuela on Saturday (26 June) in the last-chance qualifying tournament in Puebla, Mexico.

The Dominicans, returning to Olympic baseball for the first time in 29 years, were the strongest squad in the three-team tournament in Mexico, but they had some frights along the way.

They opened their account with a 10-7 slug-fest against Venezuela, before leaving it late to beat the plucky Netherlands (4-3). The second go-round with South American powers Venezuela was a far more emphatic affair for the DR, with a two-run home run from former Major League Baseball star Melky Cabrera setting the pace on Saturday evening.

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“When I think about going to the Olympics, I can hardly believe it. It’s such a special thing and a special opportunity to represent my country in this way,” said outfielder and ace hitter Julio Rodriguez, still just 20, whose contact is owned by the Seattle Mariners of USA’s Major League Baseball.

“In the Dominican Republic, you’re born with baseball in your veins,” the youngster known as J-Rod, among the top prospects for future superstardom, told Tokyo 2020. “But I’m here I am, right here right now and in the middle of it.”

The Dominicans will now return to Olympic baseball for the first time since the sport’s inaugural edition in Barcelona in 1992. They join Team USA, who won the Americas qualifying tournament earlier this month, Japan (hosts), Mexico, Israel and South Korea.

Tokyo 2020's (in 2021) Olympic Baseball Competition will take place between 28 July and 7 August in the cities of Fukushima and Yokohama, with bronze, silver and gold on the line. The Dominican Republic will be looking for their first Olympic medal in baseball after failing to make the podium in their only other trip to the Games nearly three decades ago.