Tough out

IOC's 'no' decision has softball players trying to stage a rally for the sport

BEIJING - With the United States softball team standing behind him, President Bush made a big plea for help.

"It's good for the world to have girls playing softball," Bush said. "These women are going to show young girls how to win."

But as powerful as Bush is, even he doesn't have enough juice to save softball from getting a third strike in the Olympics.

A little more than three years ago, the International Olympic Committee surprisingly kicked softball and baseball out of the Games, effective with the 2012 London Olympics. Some reports said international sports officials believed both were "too American" for the world stage. Softball and baseball were the first sports eliminated from the Olympics since polo in 1936. Both are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Olympics.

The news definitely hit the players hard.

"It broke my heart," said US outfielder Jessica Mendoza. "It felt like someone kicked me in the stomach."

Said US pitcher Jennie Finch, "I was crushed, heartbroken, very disappointed. Our sport is at an all-time high, and for it to be taken away? There is no way."

While the Americans haven't dominated the baseball competition in the Olympics, softball has been one-sided.

The US has won all three gold medals since softball joined the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. In the 2004 Athens Games, the Americans outscored the competition, 51-1. In the preliminary round here in Beijing, the US scored a record 53 runs and allowed only one (in an 8-1 win over Canada). The closest game was a 3-0 no-hitter over Australia.

This morning's semifinal game for the top-seeded Americans is against second-seeded Japan, which the US defeated, 7-0, last Thursday.

Asked if the blowouts were hurting their cause to get Olympic softball reinstated, some of the players get defensive. They also talked about what they consider a double standard when it comes to softball and other sports.

"Look at women's basketball from our country," Mendoza said. "Isn't the Olympics about domination? People praise Michael Phelps for winning eight gold medals, but they put us down and tell us that we should lose games or keep the score [low].

"It doesn't make sense to me. To me, the Olympics is about what they're doing with Michael right now: 'Yes, go for the record. Kick butt.' That's what they should be about. People should be praising us for what we are doing, not telling us to lose."

Said US pitcher Monica Abbott, "If Michael Phelps can win eight gold medals, then why can't USA Softball [dominate]? That's what the Olympics are about, having extraordinary performances and having viewers get chills when they watch us play. If we can do that every game, then that's success for softball."

While there won't be softball played in the London Olympics, the US players are holding out hope that eight years from now they will have a chance to win a gold medal again.

One program trying to get softball back in the Olympics is Back Softball, which is accepting donations on its website (www.internationalsoftball.com/backsoftball) to aid its mission. Back Softball's goal is to increase softball participation worldwide from 8.4 million to 10.5 million, with a focus on youth. Don Porter, president of the International Softball Federation, reportedly plans to raise $2 million for a public relations campaign.

"With Back Softball and so many organizations trying to get it back, it's all about moving forward," said Mendoza, who has taken part in softball promotional clinics all over the world. "We can't sit here and be sad. We have to figure out how to get it back.

"I'm a problem solver. I love equations and stuff like that. I wish there was just a formula where we could come up with a solution. But unfortunately, the way this works, it's pretty fuzzy.

"So we are going to do whatever we can with Back Softball, which is trying to get it back."

Said Finch, "The game is played in 140 countries, and for it to be taken away is heartbreaking. But we have to have hope, move on, and hope that the IOC will put us back in."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com