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The story
According to a report by the Mainichi Shimbun, it has emerged that Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is considering suspending the professional regular season during the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028, on the assumption that Samurai Japan will take part. The plan is expected to be discussed at an owners’ meeting on the 16th. Japan has not yet secured a berth in Olympic baseball, but an NPB official reportedly explained, “We can’t change the schedule depending on whether we’re in or out — we just have to commit.” The report set off wide-ranging discussion on 5ch, from surprise at NPB’s eagerness to adjust the schedule before a berth is even secured, to how to handle the backlog of regular-season games, to whether Japan’s Olympic roster should be built around amateurs or top-tier pros.
Distributed 9/16 (Wed) 5:00 AM — Mainichi Shimbun
It was learned on the 15th that Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is considering suspending regular-season games during the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028, when baseball will be held, on the assumption that Japan’s national team, “Samurai Japan,” will take part. The matter will be discussed at an owners’ meeting on the 16th. Japan has not yet secured a berth, but an NPB official explained, “We can’t change the schedule based on whether we’re going [to the Olympics] or not. We have to commit either way.”
(The rest is omitted — please check the source for the full article)
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It's huge that there's zero travel burden since it's being held at Dodger Stadium
Honestly, the game count barely matters — it basically just decides who makes the Climax Series (CS, NPB's postseason)
I burst out laughing at this ｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ ("w" = laughter, like "lol")
Just let Tatsunami handle it — though who knows if he can even get into the US
Who's even gonna watch that
It's not about whether people watch — it's about division of roles. Pros already have the WBC as their stage, so for the Olympics, at least this last time, they should hand it back to the amateurs
Japan used to win gold with amateur-led squads back in the day, but ever since pros were allowed in, it's been one loss after another
It's being held in LA, so they got a pity invite
1 spot for host nation USA
2 spots for the Americas region (the top 2 non-US teams from the Americas at the 2026 WBC)
1 spot for Asia (top finisher at Premier12)
1 spot for Europe/Oceania (top finisher at Premier12)
1 spot from the world final qualifier
The world final qualifier is contested by 6 countries — the top 2 from the Asian Baseball Championship, the top 2 from the European Baseball Championship, the top finisher from the African Baseball Championship, and the top finisher from the Oceania Baseball Championship (excluding any countries that have already qualified) — and the winner takes the last spot
Why isn't there an Americas spot in the final qualifier?
Probably because, on top of the host-nation spot, the Americas already get 2 spots
Isn't it because the WBC already locked in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela?
They're in if they finish above South Korea and Taiwan at Premier12
If that doesn't happen, they'll have to win the final qualifier instead
Honestly there's a real chance Japan doesn't make it at all, and if that happens it's a disaster for ticket sales
Guess it's because the roster was actually made up of Italian-Americans, so it didn't count?
Because their nationality is American — Italian roots alone don't cut it. Same deal with Nootbaar on Japan's side: he's a US citizen, so he was fine for the WBC but can't play for Japan at the Olympics
Looks like we'll get to see Premier12's famous pro-Japan strike calls again
Though Japan still lost last time even with that going for them
Premier12 is switching to ABS (the Automated Ball-Strike system), so there's no favoritism either way — it's all machine umpiring now
That's dumb. So it gets revived because that's what the public wants then, right? Are you dumb or something?
with the US, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic in the field,
this is guaranteed to be the biggest tournament in baseball history — so even a medal is already in serious doubt.
What's scary is that the baseball world doesn't seem to have that sense of crisis at all
This is the price for not treating Ohtani like the goose that lays golden eggs
Background and key points of this story
Baseball was revived for the Los Angeles Olympics as a 6-country competition, leveraging the host-nation slot. It was dropped after the Beijing Games, returned for Tokyo, and was then cut again for the very next Games in Paris — so there’s no guarantee it will actually happen this time either, which is part of what’s shaping the current preparations. Qualification runs through multiple routes — WBC and Premier12 results plus regional qualifiers — and Japan’s first hurdle is simply securing the Asia slot at Premier12. During the Tokyo Olympics as well, NPB scheduled its own exhibition matches during the Games, and the player disputes that arose at the time have also come up in this thread. Part of why this proposal is making news now is that shifting the regular-season schedule to accommodate the Olympics would unavoidably affect the timing of the Climax Series and Japan Series, as well as night-game business during the cold season. Opinions in the thread were split on whether the national team should stay pro-led or shift back to an amateur-centered roster, but it’s easy to overlook that Japan hasn’t actually secured a berth yet — the roster selection and exact schedule will depend on the results of upcoming international tournaments.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[NPB] Considering Suspending Professional Regular-Season Games During LA Olympics, Premised on Japan’s Participation.”
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