Philadelphia Phillies Legend Wants to Play in 2028 Olympics

Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper wants into the Olympics in 2028!

Baseball was put back on the Olympic program for the 2028 Games, which are being played in Los Angeles, and Harper would love to see Major Leaguers allowed to play.

Field Level Media has his comments, which were made on Monday before Game 1 of the NLCS.

"I’m going to be old at that point, so I don’t know if they’re going to want me on the team, but it’s always a dream. I think it’s everyone’s dream to be in the Olympics, especially coming here...You grow it to the highest peak — you have guys who are playing in the league take that break, just like in the NHL, and see what happens,” Harper said. “I think it would be really cool and a lot of fun.

“I don’t know if they’ll ever go for it, but I would love to put ‘USA’ on my chest and represent it at the highest level. I know the WBC, and everyone loves that and it’s great for the game, but it’s not the Olympics.”

With baseball back for '28 Olympics, Bryce Harper wants in #BryceHarper #Olympics #MLB
https://t.co/7nBcE1kLpP
— FieldLevelMedia (@FieldLevelMedia) October 17, 2023

Harper is not wrong, exposing the game to the Olympic audience would certainly be a great way to grow it. He's also not wrong that it's going to be hard to get teams and the league to go for it. While the NHL did allow players to play in multiple Olympics, there is always the worry of injury, and that worries people in charge. Furthermore, to accommodate a two-week break in the season, you'd have to start the season earlier, end it later, or both, and given weather issues in several MLB cities, that doesn't seem like a great idea.

The NHL did not allow its players to participate at the 2022 games.

Currently, minor league players are allowed to play in the Olympics. Triston Casas of the Red Sox played for Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo games and Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners played for the Dominican Republic.

Baseball is not on the 2024 Olympics program in Paris.

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