Welcome back to Talkin’ Gaysball where “Faster, Higher, Stronger” is part of our search history that has nothing to do with the Olympics.
The 2024 Olympics are underway in Paris but since baseball won’t be one of the events this year, is there really any reason to watch?
*Takes one look at the men’s divers*
Scratch that. Let’s start over…
Get off the sidelines and into the game
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Fortunately, baseball is scheduled to return as a medal event at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. As part of its comeback, the IOC is attempting to convince MLB to send major leaguers to L.A. in order to give baseball the same prestige that sports like basketball and hockey enjoy.
Back in February, the owners listened to a presentation from agent and LA Olympics rep Casey Wasserman detailing a plan to pause the 2028 season so that Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Ronald Acuña Jr. could compete for their home countries at the Games.
How did Commissioner Rob Manfred respond to that idea?
“I think the pros are just the potential for association between two great brands…”
You know what? Let’s not talk to Rob Manfred anymore.
Ye gods, we were about two sentences away from “The Olympics presented by BuildSubmarines.com.”
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We would’ve loved to spotlight an out gay athlete like Bowens during All-Star Week, especially in Texas. Plus: Cutch shouts out furries and an underrated thirst trap.
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Fortunately, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, there was also a growing contingent of owners supportive of the idea. Wasserman pitched them a proposal revolving around a quick Olympic tournament lasting five or six days scheduled around the time MLB would usually be taking its All-Star break.
There are several reasons why this is an inspired idea but from our community’s perspective, the biggest one is that sending major leaguers to the 2028 Olympics is an ideal way to show off baseball at its best to audiences who have never watched it before.
As my colleague Jon Holmes detailed last week, the Olympics draw the eyes of the LGBTQ community like no other sporting event in the world. Which means that many LGBTQ viewers would be tuning into a baseball game for the first time.
Now imagine them getting to see the very best players in the world squaring off in a charged atmosphere with the emotion and intensity of the World Baseball Classic.
If they got to see an all time capital-M MOMENT like Ohtani striking out Mike Trout, baseball could instantly make thousands of new LGBTQ fans for life.
Just by itself, that possibility is reason enough to put the All Star Game on pause for a year and turn Olympic baseball into a must-see event in 2028.
And daring Bryce Harper to dream up a fashion ensemble representing Team USA isn’t such a bad idea either.
Hall of an acquisition
In the midst of another summer of Marlins schadenfreude, it’s felt like we’ve been waiting for one of about a dozen teams to decide that they’re serious about actually competing and hire Kim Ng to run their organization.
While we’ve been looking on, the Hall of Fame decided to take advantage of her availability and appointed Ng to their Board of Directors.
Ng joins luminaries like Joe Torre, Ozzie Smith, Ken Griffey Jr, and Cal Ripken Jr. while becoming the only woman to serve on the Board that reports to Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Forbes Clark.
It’s not just a tremendous honor for a baseball trailblazer but it also gives the Hall access to a voice who can provide a firsthand account of what it meant to be the only woman in charge of constructing an MLB roster.
Ng’s presence will help the Hall tell the story of women in baseball with a much greater degree of specificity and sensitivity. This is a great move for everyone involved.
Now if only an organization like the Cubs would decide that one of the job requirements for their Team President should be “actually making the playoffs…”
MLB Thirst Trap of the Week
Getting back to the Olympics, you might have noticed over the years that my byline keeps popping up under stories featuring a certain non-baseball related athlete.
He’s become less of a thirst trap and more like a thirst motif.
So my choice for this week’s TTOTW should be absolutely no surprise…
Credit: Facebook @DirectorDLB
At this point, it’s fair to conclude that Tom Daley is the greatest international signing in Dodgers history. And nobody can prove me wrong.
Go get ‘em in Paris and bring home another gold!
