Baseball’s Magic Number Is 1992--for the Olympics

Baseball was added to the Olympics today, to begin in 1992.

Teams from at least six nations will determine gold, silver and bronze medals in baseball, which was a demonstration sport in Los Angeles in 1984, announced Vitaly Smirnov, chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s program commission.

“Baseball is part of the Olympics, from 1992 on,” Smirnov said.

He said the IOC’s 91st session asked for a complete review of possible eligibility dilemmas with professional players and agreed that the tournament might have to be played on converted soccer fields if the host city doesn’t have baseball diamonds.

An IOC member from the Soviet Union, Smirnov also mentioned that his country’s Sports Ministry earlier this month had agreed to recognize and promote America’s national pastime.

Japan beat the United States for the demonstration gold medal in baseball in Los Angeles.

For the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, he said, the IOC voted to add men’s and women’s events in 50-meter freestyle swimming and team archery, while dropping the open judo class. This will bring the total number of events in the next Summer Games to 237, 16 more than in Los Angeles.

Smirnov said the committee had rejected proposals to add three other new medal sports in 1992--bowling, women’s modern pentathlon and roller skating.

It will give further consideration, he added, to the proposed addition of women’s softball, water skiing, martial arts and lightweight rowing, as well as possible medal additions to the Winter Games.