Baseball and the Olympics just don't mix 

March, 2, 2010
03/02/10
1:01
PM ET
True fact: Twice as many Americans watched a hockey game Sunday as those who watched the last game of the 2009 ALCS, between two small-market teams known as the Yankees and Angels.

Another true fact: Eight million more Americans watched that Olympic hockey final than those who watched the World Series, featuring teams from the largest (Yankees) and fourth-largest (Phillies) media markets in America.

So let's say you were Bud Selig. And let's say you viewed that hockey game Sunday and thought it was "absolutely magnificent." Wouldn't you have to be tempted, even a little bit, to ask a question very rarely uttered in the history of this proud nation:

Why can't baseball be more like hockey?

Translation: Don't you think the commish would at least be thinking about whether to reconsider his stance that major league baseball players and the Olympics shouldn't ever mix?

Well, thanks to the miracle of the "Mike & Mike" show, I was able to pose that very question to Selig this morning. And in case you missed his answer, here ya go:


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Jayson Stark | email

Senior Writer, ESPN.com
  • Senior writer for ESPN.com
  • 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Author of two baseball books

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jayson Stark
Jayson Stark

Jayson Stark has been a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com since 2000. His regular contributions include the newsy Rumblings and Grumblings column, his eclectic "Three Strikes" blog and his tilted look inside baseball's numbers and quirks, the Useless Information Department.

Stark also makes regular television appearances on "SportsCenter," "Outside the Lines" and "Baseball Tonight." He is a regular ESPN Radio guest of Mike & Mike, the Doug Gottlieb Show, the John Kinkade Show, ESPN Radio tonight and numerous other shows on the network.

Before arriving at ESPN, Stark worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 21 years. He was twice named Pennsylvania's sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 2010, he was honored by the Foster Conference for Distinguished Writers for his books and other work. He is the author of two books, "The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History" (Triumph Books, 2006) and "Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies" (Triumph Books, 2009).

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