Interview with Jake Fehling

Jake Fehling is the Director of Media & Public Relations for USA Baseball. Mr. Fehling was kind enough to answer a couple of questions for Nick On Sports.

What is it like being apart of USA Baseball?

It’s an organization dedicated to growing the game both domestically and aboard, it’s tied into the U.S. Olympic Committee and Major League Baseball, and we just got back from medaling at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the 2008 IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup. Life and business are good.

What are your thoughts on the team after the Olympics?

We of course thought that we would bring home the gold. Obviously that didn’t happen and to some extent we were disappointed. However, this was baseball’s toughest field ever in Olympic competition, and finishing behind an undefeated Korean squad and Cuba isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

What did the team do to get tuned up for the Olympics?

We worked out in San Jose and played exhibition games against Canada’s team in Durham and Cary , N.C. before heading over to Beijing ..

Which pool of players is the team selected from?

Non-25-man roster players.

What do you think could be done to get baseball back into the Olympic program?

I handle the media operation for the IBAF as well, so I live this one every day. [Jacques] Rogge made it very clear at the Games – we want the best players. We’re working with MLB almost daily to try to accomplish that in some way shape or form for the four remaining bid cities for 2016. Whether we accomplish it or not does not make or break our argument, however. At the end of the day baseball is one of the most high profile sports on the international stage and with events like the IBAF Baseball World Cup and MLB’s World Baseball Classic growing like they are, the future of baseball around the world is promising.

Thank you Jake for taking these questions.

Like I said in the post earlier, I've been very busy, but please continue to check back every day for new content.