Cubans miss chance for revenge against U.S.

Cuba and Japan are favorites to play for the gold medal.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The defending champions are missing from the Olympic baseball tournament. So is the luster.
Without the United States around, it just isn't the same.
"It's sad, isn't it?" said former major league manager Davey Johnson, who is helping coach the Netherlands. "But that's baseball."
That's Olympic baseball, anyway, and it's played a whole lot differently than in the country where it was born.
The United States pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the 2000 Games in Sydney, knocking off powerhouse Cuba to win its first baseball gold. The long-standing rivalry -- often bitter, always riveting -- was headed for a new level.
Or, so it seemed.
Odd nation out
A quirky qualifying format limits the number of teams that can come from each part of the globe, reserving a spot only for the host country. One bad day can knock a nation out of the eight-team field, as the United States found out.
No one is missed more than the Americans.
"It's always special for a Cuban to play against the United States," Cuban first baseman Antonio Scull said. "The Americans say they have the best baseball in the world, and we want to show that we're No. 1.
"I've been dreaming of getting revenge on the field for four years."
They'll have to wait for at least four more.
Or, they can just take their frustrations out on some overmatched team in Athens. There are plenty of those.
There's the home team, the one that's still learning the nuances of the game.
As the Olympic host, Greece got an automatic berth. They don't play much baseball around the Acropolis -- there's a 5-year-old amateur league -- so U.S. players with Greek ancestry were imported to try to make the home team respectable.
"Every team here is exceptional," said Greek manager Dusty Rhodes, referring to the competition. "Except for the USA, you have the best teams in the world. We'll need a few breaks, and we have to play errorless ball to have a medal chance."
They'll need to do a lot better than the Greek women, who set an Olympic record with six errors in their opening softball game on Saturday.
Favorites
Cuba and Japan are favorites to play for the gold medal. The Cubans have lost some prominent players to defection and retirement, but still have more than enough to win another gold.
Since Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Ben Sheets shut them down 4-0 in the final game in Sydney, the Cubans have won every major amateur competition.
Japan has stocked its team entirely with professionals for the first time, determined to improve on its showing in Sydney. A team sprinkled with players from the Japanese leagues lost to South Korea in the 2000 bronze-medal game.
"We're making a sacrifice by leaving our teams, so we want to bring home the best medal," said third baseman Kosuke Fukudome of the Chunichi Dragons.
The Americans would have been favored, if not for one bad day last November.
A roster full of U.S. minor leaguers lost to Mexico 2-1 in the qualifying tournament, knocking the defending champions out. Baseball's birthplace was left behind, and a dream matchup was forever scrapped.
Roger Clemens had retired from the majors and wanted to play for the United States in Athens, fulfilling a lifelong dream. The Cubans were looking forward to digging in against The Rocket and taking their hacks.
Format
The loss to Mexico left Clemens free to resume his career with the Houston Astros -- and sparked another round of calls for changing the qualifying format or scuttling baseball as an Olympic sport.
"It's not the fairest way to choose a winner," said Cuban Olympic chief Jose Ramon Fernandez.
Tell the Americans about it.
"We're the leaders in pro baseball and you'd love have the U.S. players in it," said Johnson, who led the Mets to a World Series title. "It's kind of sad."
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