Orr backs out of Canadian baseball team
Canada's Olympic baseball team is down a major leaguer.
Pete Orr, a backup infielder for the Washington Nationals, has decided not to play for the Canadian squad at the Beijing Summer Games.
The native of Richmond Hill, Ont., — just outside Toronto — had faced a deadline of noon ET on Wednesday to confirm his Olympic participation. But after a talk with Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, Orr elected not to join the Canadian team.
"It would have been a huge honour," said Orr, who played for Canada at the 2004 Athens Games, "But at the same time, it's an honour being a Washington National."
Players on the active roster of a big-league club are not allowed to play in the Olympic tournament, which begins Aug. 13. Orr would have had to be released or returned to the minor leagues to be eligible for Beijing, where Canada will seek it first medal in Olympic baseball.
Four years ago in Athens, Canada was manhandled 11-2 by Japan in the bronze-medal game, one day after an Orr error in the eighth inning led to six Cuban runs in a heartbreaking 8-5 semifinal loss.
Orr also played for Canada at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
The 29-year-old has spent the bulk of the 2008 season with the Columbus Clippers, the Nationals' affiliate in the class triple-A International League. In 73 games there this year, Orr has batted .275 with two home runs, 33 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases.
In two stints with Washington — one spanning June 22 to June 30, the other beginning July 10 — Orr has gone 4-for-21 (.190) at the plate.
Big leaguers in 2012?
Orr's withdrawal from the Olympics echoes a similar situation from 2004 involving pitcher Jeff Francis. Then a minor leaguer in the Colorado Rockies' system, Francis was denied permission to play for Canada just days before the Athens Games.
With Major League Baseball unwilling to allow its players to participate, and clubs hesitant to loan their minor leaguers, baseball faces an uncertain future in the Olympics.
The sport will not be included on the program for the 2012 London Games, though it could return as MLB has indicated it would consider shutting down mid-season if Chicago or Tokyo were selected as host of the 2016 Olympics.
"Major League Baseball, the IBAF (International Baseball Federation) and the IOC are working diligently to have a system where our big leaguers are playing," MLB vice-president and U.S. team general manager Bob Watson said in mid-July. "I think if Chicago or Tokyo would win Olympics for 2016, those countries are baseball countries, and they have venues.
"I believe they are trying to work up something, you have a few years to get a plan. There are a lot of moving parts but don't rule it out."