Americans ousted

Americans ousted
The defending champion U.S. baseball team failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, stunned by Mexico 2-1 Friday in a qualifying tournament. The U.S. team was among the favorites to win the gold medal again, and there was a chance Roger Clemens would have pitched for the Americans. "It was a well-pitched game by their pitchers," said manager Frank Robinson, a Hall of Famer. "We were not able to do much until the ninth inning." In 2000, Tom Lasorda managed a team that included Ben Sheets and Doug Mientkiewicz to the gold at Sydney in the first tournament that included professionals. While the Americans were beaten at their own game, countries such as the Netherlands, Italy and Greece are already in the Olympics.