NEW YORK -- USA Baseball announced Wednesday 23 of the 24 members of  its 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team. The Davey Johnson-led squad is set  to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Aug. 8-24 (baseball  competition Aug. 13-23).

The team features 12 pitchers and 11 position players. The 24th member  of the Olympic Team will be named in the coming days, ahead of the  Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad's  (BOCOG) July 22 cut-off date.

"We are proud of the ballclub we have assembled," said USA  Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. "The team is strong from  top to bottom, and we are confident it will succeed in Beijing. We  applaud our coaching staff and selection committee for their tireless  work in putting together an excellent team."

The initial 23-member roster includes Cleveland Indians OF Matt  LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and San Diego State University RHP  Stephen Strasburg (San Diego, Calif.). LaPorta was recently dealt by  the Milwaukee Brewers to the Cleveland Indians as the key piece of a  trade that brought 2007 A.L. Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia to  Milwaukee. Baseball America currently ranks LaPorta as the top prospect  in Cleveland's farm system, and the outfield slugger was also a member  of the 2005 USA Baseball National Team (Collegiate).

Strasburg made national headlines this year following a  23-strikeout performance against Utah on April 11, 2008, that was part  of a breakthrough sophomore campaign. The 19-year-old righty, who turns  20 on Sunday, is currently anchoring the pitching staff on the 2008 USA  Baseball National Team. The team of collegiate all-stars is fresh off a  first-place finish at Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands, which  included two victories over the Cuban National Team.

The Olympic Team is laden with veteran talent -- 14 players are  currently playing at the Triple-A. Seven players are in Double-A, one  in Class A and one at the collegiate level.

Bob Watson, USA Baseball General Manager of Professional Teams said that they were looking for a roster of experienced players.

"We knew going in that we wanted a veteran club, a team of guys  who have been battle-tested, so to speak," Watson said. "But we wanted  younger prospects as well, guys with the fire to go out and showcase  their talents on the international stage."

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team will be led by Manager  Davey Johnson (Winter Park, Fla.). Johnson returns to USA Baseball on  the heels of a gold medal-winning performance last November at the 2007  IBAF Baseball World Cup in Taiwan. That team included All-Star Tampa  Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, as well as two players named to  the Olympic roster: St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Colby Rasmus  (Columbus, Ga.) and Cleveland Indians right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens  (Berkeley, Calif.).

Johnson will be joined by the same coaches he has worked with  at USA Baseball since the 2005 IBAF Baseball World Cup. Marcel  Lachemann (Penryn, Calif.) is the team's pitching coach, and Reggie  Smith (Woodland Hills, Calif.) will act as the hitting coach.  Third-base coach Rick Eckstein (Sanford, Fla.) and auxiliary coaches  Dick Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) and Rolando de Armas (Palm Harbor, Fla.)  round out the staff.

"We have an unbelievable coaching staff," said Johnson, who in  addition to his international accomplishments, also achieved  wide-spread success as player and coach in the big leagues, including  leading the 1986 New York Mets to a World Series title.

"We have worked together for over three years now and across  several international tournaments. With the staff's help, I think we  achieved the well-balanced lineup that is critical for Olympic  success."

In addition to LaPorta, Strasburg, Rasmus, and Stevens, the  Olympic Team also features five other USA Baseball alumni: Oakland  Athletics left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson (Midland, Tex.; 2005 18U,  2004 16U), Baltimore Orioles right-handed pitcher Jake Arietta  (Farmington, Mo.; 2006 National), Florida Marlins outfielder John Gall  (Stanford, Calif.; 1998-99 National), Texas Rangers catcher Taylor  Teagarden (Dallas, Tex.; 2004 National), and Colorado Rockies  right-handed pitcher Casey Weathers (Elk Grove, Calif.; 2006 National).

LaPorta, Anderson, Arietta, Teagarden and Weathers were also  members of the 2008 XM Future Stars USA Team during Major League  Baseball's All-Star weekend. The game, which saw the U.S. fall to the  World Team 3-0, acted as an Olympic Trials event for Johnson and his  staff. Trevor Cahill (Oceanside, Calif.), Jason Donald (Fresno,  Calif.), Dexter Fowler (Atlanta, Ga.) and Clayton Richard (Lafayette,  Ind.) were also members of the Futures Team who are on the Olympic  roster.

The U.S. last competed in the baseball competition in the  Olympic Games in 2000. Tommy Lasorda managed the team in Sydney and  guided a squad featuring Ben Sheets and Roy Oswalt to the gold medal  over Cuba. Since baseball was recognized as an official medal sport in  Olympic competition by the International Olympic Committee in 1992, the  U.S. has finished fourth (Barcelona, 1992), third (bronze, Atlanta,  1996) and first (gold, Sydney, 2000). The U.S. did not qualify for the  Athens Games in 2004.

OKLAHOMA CITY--The USA Softball Women's National Team, which is seeking a fourth-consecutive gold medal next month in the Beijing Olympic Games, has fans worldwide.

One of them, Lt. Col. Clark D. Easter, HHC, 39 IBCT, recently had the U.S. flag flown over the Headquarters, Multi-National Corps-Iraq in honor of the team. The headquarters is located at Al Faw Palace, just west of Baghdad, Iraq.

The flag was then sent to the ASA National Office in Oklahoma City and arrived on June 30.

"I am pleased to have had this flag flown in your honor(U.S. National Team) for I know that my three daughters will be watching with a high degree of interest when you play," wrote Colonel Easter in the letter accompanying the flag. "We have been to all of the games of the last two years of the World Cup of Softball and have enjoyed it immensely. My daughters are 13, 14 and 19."

Although Christine, 19, no longer plays softball, 14-year-old Roxanne assists and is a scorekeeper for a fast pitch league, and 13-year-old Tiffany plays competitive fast pitch on a traveling team and plans to play college softball. Colonel Easter, who lives in Arkadelphia, Ark., also umpires and is president of a fast pitch league when not deployed.

"Good luck from my family and other personnel in the Middle East who support you and I look forward to watching you play."

Colonel Easter and the rest of the Easter family won't be the only ones watching with enthusiasm and anticipation as Team USA tries for a four-peat in Olympic softball.

PORTLAND, Ore.  --- The USA Softball Women’s National team traveled to Portland, Oregon  on Sunday to begin their final stretch of the KFC Bound 4 Beijing tour. A tour that  started in February, the long journey across the U.S.  will pick up again on Tuesday evening as the U.S.  visits Portland  for a match up against ASA Regional All Stars. This begins what is the final  three weeks of the tour before departure to defend its fourth–consecutive  Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing  in August.

"It is a very exciting time as we are embarking on our last leg of the  tour,” said two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Crystl Bustos. “The sites have been  great and it is hard to believe it’s almost over. We are going to be extremely  focused the next month to get ready to defend our gold medal come August in China.”

With just eight games remaining on the schedule, following Oregon,  the Americans will travel to Spokane, Washington before bussing through Yellowstone  National Park for a game in Rapid City, South    Dakota on July 15. On July 18, they will play in Springfield, Mo. before  heading east to Stratford, Conn. for competition on July 20. Another  National ProFastpitch contest is then scheduled on July 22 against the Akron  Racers followed by a Salem,   Va. visit on July 24. The final  game of the tour before the team departs for China  will be in Irvine, Calif. on Saturday, July 26.

With a record of 51-1, the U.S.  is hitting a remarkable .432 as a team and has outscored opponents 599-26.  Leftfielder Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo,   Calif.) leads all batters with a  .474 batting average with 16 home runs and a team-high 83 RBI. Bustos has a  team-high 23 home runs while Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Springs, Fla.)  has earned a team-high 46 walks. Lead off hitter Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.)  is a perfect 20-for-20 in stolen bases and is No. 2 on the team for batting  average at .422.

From the circle, Jennie Finch (La    Mirada, Calif.) leads  the way with a 17-1 record with 102.0 innings pitched with 179 strikeouts. Cat  Osterman (Houston, Texas)  is 12-0 with 92.0 innings pitched and 193 strikeouts while Monica Abbott(Salinas, Calif.)  has totaled 89 innings pitched recording a 13-0 record with 176 strikeouts  tallied. As a whole, the pitching staff has held opponents to a .089 batting  average and has a combined .47 ERA.

(Game report provided by USA Softball)