Photo of the Day: The 2008 U.S. Olympic baseball team featured some players you might recognize
Wednesday, it was announced that both baseball and softball will return to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
That's big news, considering both sports were absent in the 2012 games and the upcoming 2016 games in Rio.
In celebration of the announcement, here's a rather amazing image of four standouts from the last time baseball was part of the Olympics -- back in 2008, when a team involving some young players named
Last time baseball was an Olympic sport (08) these guys won bronze. Strasburg,Fowler, Cahill, Arrieta. #mlb #Wbsc pic.twitter.com/ZLzpfQDGkU
— John Blundell (@JBMLBPR) August 3, 2016
The quartet was part of a team that also featured future MLB standouts such as
Of the news, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement:
"We are excited about the IOC's announcement restoring baseball and softball to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Baseball and Softball are global sports that belong in the Olympics. We are grateful to the IOC executive board, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation for their collective efforts, which will allow fans throughout the world to again enjoy Baseball and Softball on the Olympic stage."
Considering how many of the 2008 roster wound up having pretty successful careers in the bigs, pay attention to the names that wind up on the 2020 team.