By The sport of baseball has had an on/off relationship with the Olympic Games over the years. While various exhibition events in the past had been held at points, it wasn’t until 1992 that baseball was an official Olympic medal sport. It left the official list of events after 2008, and now is only part of the games when included by the host nation, which is why it was held in Tokyo and likely will also be in Los Angeles in 2028.
Even beyond that fact, when the sport was in the Olympics, it obviously clashed with the MLB regular seasons, meaning that teams weren’t exactly picking from a list of current major league stars, and it’s hard to imagine that being any different in future years. It’s highly unlikely that a current Yankees would even compete in the Olympics in a given year.
However, having watched this year’s Paris games over the last couple weeks, that got me thinking about what Yankees could compete in other Olympic sports. To be realistic, the answer is no one, as despite how athletically gifted MLB players are, it would be hard for them to just hop into an entirely different sport and immediately get to a world class level. That’s not in the spirit of this post though. Instead, let’s try and figure out what sports some Yankees could excel at.
While Aaron Judge is obviously an undoubted star baseball player, one of the things most remarked on about him is his height. That’s led to plenty of jokes about how he would’ve been good at basketball. While that’s an option, there’s also another sport where height is often a help: volleyball. Plus, considering Judge’s shown himself to be pretty good at timing jumps right to make catches at the wall, he might be pretty good at doing the same to block or hit volleyballs on the court or sand. While Giancarlo Stanton is pretty tall himself, I’m not sure I want him jumping a lot.
Team handball is a sport that people always joke about getting into every four years, considering that it basically has no hold in America otherwise. I can’t say I’ve ever tried to watch some professional handball league after the Olympics, but it is fun to watch every four years.
With the rules of the sport preventing you from stepping inside the little arc around the goalie, the players shooting will generally try to delay and contort themselves to make sure they get as good a look and angle as possible while still in the air. Considering that Nestor Cortes often messes around with funky pitch deliveries, it might be something he could try.
The fastest Yankee right now is probably Anthony Volpe, although Jazz Chisholm Jr. is now in that conversation as well. Either way, they would be the team’s best hopes in sprinting in track and field. However, Volpe needs to be allowed to run with a helmet on, as it flying off his head while running clearly gives him a boost.
As far as the distance running events go, you need to be able to start a little slow so you have energy in the tank for later, and Carlos Rodón has notoriously been worse in the first inning than later on this season.
Oswaldo Cabrera has played every defensive position this season except for catcher and center field, so might as well get him out there for the modern pentathlon.
Juan Soto is so good at drawing walks that he should try the race walk event.
There’s plenty more Yankees and plenty more Olympic events, so let us know your suggestions!
