The Dominican Republic’s baseball players may get a shot at an Olympic gold medal now that baseball is included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games 2028. Baseball had not been included in three of the past four Olympic Games.
The Olympics’ baseball tournament would be played from 15 to 20 July 2028 at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The dates fall around the time the Major League Baseball holds its All Star festivities, a break time from the regular season. MLB says the All Star festivities would also be held.
The baseball Olympic tournament would be short. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is backing the tournament. This week, he told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America during a press conference: “I think it is an opportunity to market the game on a really global stage.”
“It is possible to play the All-Star Game in its normal spot, have a single break that would be longer, obviously, but still play 162 games without bleeding into the middle of November,” MLB Baseball Commissioner Manfred said. “That is possible. It would require significant accommodations, but it’s possible.”
For the first time, MLB wants its best players to participate in the games, rather than leaving the competition to non-big leaguers as in the past.
Baseball at the Olympics in ’28 is set for July 15-20 at Dodger Stadium, the competition’s organizing body, LA28, had announced on Monday, 15 July 2025.
The last time the Summer Olympics included baseball was 2021, when Tokyo hosted the Games. But MLB did not permit players on 40-man rosters to participate. Meanwhile, Nippon Professional Baseball — Japan’s top professional baseball league — halted league play, and Japan defeated the USA 2-0 in the gold medal game.
Diario Libre reports that the initial plan is for the games to be disputed among five teams. The qualifiers would be the Americas Cup to be held for the first time this 13-22 November 2025 and the Caribbean Cup (7-14 December 2025) in December in The Bahamas for the Americas. Diario Libre reports it is also likely that the World Baseball Classic of 2026 will provide at least a slot, and the Premier12, another tournament of the WBSC, will be another qualifier event.
The DR won bronze when the baseball tournament was held in Tokyo 2021.
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Diario Libre
Yahoo Sports
ESPN
17 July 2025