Cuba's Omar Linares strokes a game-tying RBI-single in a game against the Baltimore Orioles in Havana, Cuba, March 28, 1999. (Kathy Willens - AP File Photo) Preview Where: Baseball Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park; Baseball Centre, Blacktown Olympic Centre. When: Sept. 17-27. Medals: Eight men’s teams will compete. Outlook: Professional players are eligible to take part for the first time in the Olympics, which could affect powerhouse Cuba. The Cubans won the first two Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996 and have taken every world championship since 1974. Watch for former major leaguers Tim Raines and Dave Nilsson, who will catch for Australia, which earned an automatic bid as the host nation. _____Baseball Basics_____ • Section • How It Plays • Schedule • Speak Out!

By Joe Kay
Associated Press
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000

Dave Nilsson will call pitches for Australia. Omar Linares will try to hit homers for Cuba.

A handful of familiar names will be in Sydney next month, filling out Olympic baseball rosters previously stocked with amateurs only.

It's a step forward – and a small one at that.

There's no Big Mac, Slammin' Sammy or Junior. They'll be finishing off the major league season back in the United States instead of representing their homelands.

All-Star catcher Atsuya Furuta won't be there, either. He'll stay in Japan, playing for a Yakult Swallows team more interested in the playoffs than a gold medal.

No matter what side of the world is involved, the regular season still takes priority over the Olympics.

"Teams are in a pennant race," said Bob Watson, one of those in charge of picking the U.S. team that will consist entirely of minor leaguers. "Guys who are the first line of defense – catchers, middle infielders and pitchers – are being withheld. It's across the board."

It's the same in Japan, which wanted to send an All-Star from each of its major league teams to Sydney. The Swallows and the Yomiuri Giants didn't want to part with some players, leaving organizers there sounding much like Watson.

"It is regrettable that some clubs have refused to release players requested by the amateur side," said Japan Olympic committee spokesman Koji Kinoshita.

So there won't be any Dream Teams in Sydney, leaving the Olympics' first professional baseball tournament with a new look but an old theme.

Can anybody beat Cuba?

This time, the answer might be yes. Adding professionals has leveled the playing field and threatened to break Cuba's decades-long dominance in international play.

It showed in the qualifying tournament last year, when a U.S. team consisting of minor leaguers beat Cuba in the round-robin part of the Pan Am Games before losing 5-1 in the gold medal game.

Cuba crushed the rest of the amateur field in Barcelona in 1992, the first time baseball was a medal sport. It had to sweat out a couple of close calls in Atlanta in 1996, when defections started taking a toll on its depth.

Although they still have Linares, a third baseman considered the best amateur player in the world, and a core of tournament-tested players, the Cubans will be hard-pressed to remain unbeaten now that the other teams have better players.

Take host Australia. Nilsson decided not to stay in the majors, where he was an All-Star with Milwaukee in 1999, because he wanted to represent his homeland in the Olympics. He moved to Japan, signed with Chunichi and got permission to head home to Sydney after the Dragons sent him to the minors for a second time this month.

"Management granted me a release and I left Japan on good terms," Nilsson said.

He'll be ready to handle the pitching staff on a team featuring players from minor league clubs in the United States.

"The host team is not going to be a pushover," Watson said. "They'll have Nilsson and anywhere from 10 to 12 Double-A and Triple-A guys that are playing in our systems here in the States right now."

Cuba's toughest challenge could come from Japan, which is sending eight players from its major leagues. Norihiro Nakamura, one of the Pacific League's leading home run hitters, and All-Star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka head the list.

Japan might not have all of its top players, but it has enough to make it one of the favorites. Japan and the United States – another top contender – face each other on the first day of the tournament.

Korea also is in the mix, shutting down its leagues to send its top players. The Netherlands, South Africa and Italy round out the eight-team field.

Teams play each other once in a round-robin format, and the top four finishers play for medals.

While the rest of the world cobbles together teams for the two-week tournament, Cuba will defend its title with a team that plays together all the time and wins most of the time.

When a game gets close, no team has more experience to draw upon than Cuba. This is essentially the same team that beat the Orioles 12-6 in an exhibition game in Baltimore last year, with Linares going 4-for-4.

"I think they play 200 games a year together," Watson said. "Do you think they know each other?"

Yes, they do. And they know how to win, too.

The question in Sydney is whether anyone else knows how to beat them.