CARY, North Carolina, USA – Mike Scioscia will take over as America’s third manager in the current Olympic cycle and will try to qualify for the Tokyo Games this summer.
On Tuesday, the American Baseball Federation announced the recruitment of the former Los Angeles Angels-driver. Scioscia will lead a team of minor league players in a pre-Olympic tournament to be played in Florida in June.
Joe Girardi resigned as manager of the United States national team in October 2019 after receiving offers to coach in the Major Leagues. Scott Brosius took over the leadership of the national team. Girardi was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies.
The United States retired the side after accessing baseball at the Olympics in November 2019, at the Premier12 tournament in Tokyo, when a Matt Clark homerun by St. Louis Cardinals expitcher Brandon Dickson entered the second half of the game. ninth inning. Efren Navarro singled off Caleb Thielbar to bring in the winning run in the 10th, and Mexico defeated the United States 3-2 to seal their first Olympic passport.
Scioscia, 62, amassed a record of 1,650-1,428 as manager of the Angels from 2000-18, leading them to the World Series Championship in 2002.
The United States will face the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua in Group A of the Tournament of the Americas, with the first two advancing to a super round against two teams from Group B, consisting of Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela. The winner of the Super Round will join Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea in the Olympic tournament, which will be played between July 28 and August 7 in Fukushima and Yokohama.
Only players who are not on Major League Baseball rosters or injured 26-player lists may be called up to the Tournament of America.
Teams that finish second and third advance to a final tie in June in Taiwan, meeting Australia, China, the Netherlands and Taiwan.
Baseball returns to the Olympic program after being banned from the 2012 and 2016 events. Cuba won the gold medal in 1992, 1996 and 2004, the United States in 2000 and South Korea in 2008.
It is taken for granted that baseball will drop out of the schedule again for the 2024 Games in Paris, but would be restored in Los Angeles by 2028.