|
|
Friday, August 25
No retired players to compete in Sydney
Associated Press
CINCINNATI -- Tim Raines won't be on the U.S. Olympic
baseball team, leaving it to minor leaguers to try to win a medal
in Sydney next month.
Raines, the last former major league player still under
consideration for the team, has been rejected by the selection
committee. The roster will be announced later this week.
Raines, who turns 41 on Sept. 16, has been playing in the
independent Atlantic League as a way of getting back into shape and
auditioning for the team.
"We appreciate Tim's desire and effort," selection committee
member Bob Watson said Monday. "He sacrificed both physically and
mentally to try to make this squad. It just didn't pan out, but we
do thank him for that."
Raines had battled lupus at the end of his 21-year major league
career, which included two World Series championships with the New
York Yankees. He had a career .295 average with 964 RBIs and 807
stolen bases, the fifth-highest total in major league history.
He was one of several former major leaguers who came out of
retirement to try out for the U.S. team. They either got hurt, quit
again or were turned down.
Watson declined to say why Raines was rejected. The U.S. Olympic
Committee wants to limit discussion of the roster pending the
announcement later this week.
"It did not work out for some various reasons," Watson said.
"We will get into some of the particulars later on."
Watson said the roster wasn't final Monday.
The roster is likely to include Cincinnati Reds minor league
shortstop Gookie Dawkins, who was on the Pan American Games team
last year that qualified the United States for the Olympic
tournament. The Reds have given permission for Dawkins to play.
Professionals will be used in the Olympic baseball tournament
for the first time in Sydney. It was restricted to amateurs in the
first two medal tournaments in Barcelona and Atlanta.
|  | |
ALSO SEE
Prospects, but no stars on Olympic baseball team
U.S. baseball team profiles
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tommy Lasorda is not going to Australia to lose.
wav: 194 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|