ABC News and other news outlets are reporting that Baseball and Softball have been outvoted by Wrestling as the final sport to be included in the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan.

Wrestling, which has been a part of the modern Olympics since 1896 and part of the ancient Games in Olympia, Greece as early as 708 BC, was voted out of the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro in lieu of rugby sevens (whatever that is) and golf. However, after a valiant campaign to get one of the games most popular (and oldest) sports back into the Games, Wrestling received 49 votes to win in the first round of secret balloting by the International Olympic Committee with Baseball-Softball getting 24 votes and squash 22 votes.

Although baseball and softball fans are undoubtedly upset by the IOC voting results, it’s kind of hard to imagine Wrestling not a part of the Olympic Games. That said, there are certainly other sports in the 26-event games that are far less popular than Baseball and Softball. In fact, in 1956 a one-game exhibition baseball game was played between an Australian and a U.S. team in Melbourne that drew an all-time record baseball crowd of nearly 114,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – a record that stood until March 29, 2008 when an exhibition game between the Dodgers and Red Sox at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum drew a record-breaking 115,300 spectators.

One has to believe that the emergence of the World Baseball Classic may have had something to do with the IOC’s vote. In fact, this topic was touched on in an article posted here on ThinkBlueLA on March 22. 2013 entitled “Should the WBC be eliminated?” In that article it was pointed out that baseball has been a part of the Olympics as far back as 1904 (as an exhibition sport) when the Games were held in St. Louis, MO.

There will undoubtedly be a lot of debate and ridicule in the coming days and weeks over the IOC’s decision, but the bottom line is that Wrestling is in and Baseball and Softball are out.