U.S. baseball team selected

Baseball may be making its last stand as an Olympic sport in Beijing next month and if that proves to be the case, the U.S. is hoping its team makes a statement on its way out.

The U.S. squad announced Wednesday is one of the oldest, most experienced in Olympic baseball history, featuring five players over the age of 30 and 21 professionals currently playing at the top two levels of minor league baseball.

“We knew we wanted to build a veteran club, a team of players who have been battled-tested, so to speak,” said Bob Watson, a Major League Baseball official and USA Baseball’s general manager of professional teams. “But we wanted younger prospects as well, players who have the fire to go out and showcase their talents on the international stage.”

The oldest player is 32-year-old pitcher Brandon Knight of Oxnard and Ventura College, whose 13-year professional career has taken him from Yankee Stadium to Japan, the independent Atlantic League and now the Olympic team.

Knight, who pitched in relief in 11 games over parts of two seasons with the Yankees, is 4-1 with a career-best 1.89 ERA this summer in 10 games for triple-A New Orleans.

For Team USA Manager Davey Johnson, that versatility, plus Knight’s experience in Japan, made his selection “kind of a no-brainer.”

“His numbers are really off the chart,” Johnson said. “And he will be a great influence on a younger staff. He fills a big need for us. You need innings out of your bullpen, and he can give you that.”

The team also features 10 Californians, including infielder Mike Hessman of Fountain Valley, right-hander Trevor Cahill of Oceanside, former Loyola Marymount pitcher Jeff Stevens and San Diego State junior Stephen Strasburg, the only collegian and, at 19, the youngest player on the team.

One spot on the 24-man team remains open and must be filled by July 22, the deadline for finalizing Olympic rosters.

“When you say a player to be named later, something’s in the works,” Watson said. “We will name that player as soon as we can.”

Any player not on a major league organization’s 25-man roster as of June 26 was eligible for consideration for his country’s Olympic squad, although the teams had the right to contest the selection. Fourteen major league organizations are represented on Team USA, including both the Dodgers and Angels, who each had two players selected.

The Angels minor leaguers who will be in Beijing are right-handed pitcher Kevin Jepsen of Anaheim and infield prospect Matt Brown, who played nine games in the majors over the last two seasons. The Dodgers are sending veterans Mike Koplove, a right-hander who has pitched in 222 big-league games, and former Minnesota Twins infielder Terry Tiffee, who played in six games for the Dodgers this year.

The International Olympic Committee voted three years ago to remove baseball and softball from the Games schedule beginning in 2012, although there is growing sentiment to reverse that decision at next year’s IOC meeting in Denmark.

The U.S. begins play in China on Aug. 13 against Korea, and will meet defending champion Cuba two days later in its third game of the eight-team tournament.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com