IOC panel wants to nix baseball, softball

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- As major league baseball players and owners worked to prevent a strike, the sport endured a setback on the international stage Wednesday, as an IOC panel recommended dropping baseball from the Summer Olympics.

The panel also proposed getting rid of softball, another game the United States excels at, while adding golf and rugby for the 2008 Beijing Games.

"I think it's preposterous," said former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda, who coached the U.S. baseball team to the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "I don't know what the reasoning would be for this. The baseball park was full for all the games we played in Sydney.

"Also, the softball I saw at the Olympics was an awesome competition and the crowds were great. It's just a tremendous mistake if they drop these sports."

The U.S. softball team also won in Sydney, defending the gold medal it won in Atlanta.

The International Olympic Committee's program commission made the recommendations in a report delivered to the IOC executive board, according to Olympic officials familiar with the document.

The executive board is expected to finish reviewing the recommendations on Thursday. If the board accepts the proposals, they would go to the full IOC assembly. A two-thirds majority is required for approval, which could come at the next IOC session in Mexico City in November.

Modern pentathlon and Greco-Roman wrestling also are up for exclusion as the program commission studies ways to modernize the Olympics, which now consist of 28 summer sports and 300 events.