Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan.
Now the country has formed its first national team composed of both professional and amateur players. The team's performance in Seoul assured it of a first-class ticket to Sydney. Adding Pros to the Roster Olympic baseball was once open only to amateurs, but starting with the Sydney Olympics, the International Baseball Association is lifting the ban on pro players. This decision opened the door for professional Japanese baseball players to compete in the Asian preliminaries. The U.S. team earned a place at the Olympics alongside the Cuban team, the world's number-one amateur baseball team.