U.S. Olympic Baseball Team

The United States has fielded a 24-man squad for the Olympic baseball competition in Beijing. Among the team members, Matt LaPorta is the top-ranked hitter in the Cleveland Indians farm team (pictured here while playing at University of Florida) and Stephen Strasburg had a 23-strikeout game against Utah. Fourteen members of the team are playing AAA-level ball, seven are in AA, one at A and one in college (Stephen Strasburg just finished his sophomore year at San Diego State University). The team will be run by manager Davey Johnson.

The U.S. baseball team did not qualify for the Olympic games four years ago, but before that won the gold in Sydney in 2000. Three members of the team won gold in last year’s World Cup. Of the 30 Major League Baseball organizations, 15 are represented on the Olympic team. Since the sport has been dropped from the program for 2012, this is the last time it will take the Olympic stage for at least a while.

Here are the names of the Olympic team members:

Brett Anderson (Midland, Texas) – Height: 6′4; Weight: 215; P, L/L

Jake Arrieta (Farmington, Mo.) – Height: 6′4; Weight: 225; P R/R

Brian Barden (Templeton, Calif.) – Height: 5′11; Weight: 185; IF, R/R

Matthew Brown (Bellevue, Wash.) – Height: 6′0; Weight: 200; IF, R/R

Trevor Cahill (Oceanside, Calif.) – Height: 6′3; Weight: 195; P, R/R

Jeremy Cummings (Charleston, W.V.) – Height: 6′2; Weight 215; P R/R

Jason Donald (Fresno, Calif.) – Height: 6′1; Weight: 190; IF, R/R

Brian Duensing (Marysville, Kansas) – Height 5′11; Weight 210; P, L/L

Dexter Fowler (Atlanta, Geo.) – Height: 6′4; Weight: 175; OF, S/R

John Gall (Stanford, Calif.) – Height: 6′0; Weight: 195; OF, R/R

Mike Hessman (Fountain Valley, Calif.) – Height: 6′5; Weight: 215; IF, R/R

Kevin Jepsen (Anaheim, Calif.) – Height: 6′3; Weight: 215; P, R/R

Brandon Knight (Oxnard, Calif.) – Height: 6′0; Weight: 195; P, L/R

Mike Koplove (Philadelphia, Penn.) – Height: 6′0; Weight: 160; P, R/R

Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) – Height: 6′2; Weight: 210; OF, R/R

Lou Marson (Scottsdale, Ariz.) – Height: 6′1; Weight: 200; C, RR

Blaine Neal (Marlton, N.J.) – Height: 6′5; Weight: 240; P, L/R

Jason Nix (Dallas) – Height: 5′11; Weight: 185; 2B, R/R

Nate Schierholtz (Reno, Nev.) – Height: 6′2; Weight: 215; OF, L/R

Jeff Stevens (Berkeley, Calif.) – Height: 6′2; Weight: 205; P, R/R

Stephen Strasburg (San Diego) – Height: 6′5; Weight: 215; P, R/R

Taylor Teagarden (Dallas) – Height: 6′1; Weight: 200; C, R/R

Terry Tiffee (North Little Rock, Ark.) – Height: 6′3; Weight: 215; IF, S/R

Casey Weathers (Elk Grove, Calif.) – Height: 6′1; Weight: 200; P/R/R

For more information on the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, go to their website.  If you would like to see a list of all the U.S. Olympic Qualifiers in every sport for the Beijing games, start your search on this official U.S. Olympics page.