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Barden, a native of Templeton, Calif. hit .265 with one home run for the United States national team in Beijing, China. The 2008 Olympic baseball team took home a bronze medal in the Beijing games.

Former OSU player Barden earns bronze in Beijing

After hitting .362 at Oregon State, infielder Brian Barden medaled for the USA

By: Casey Grogan

Posted: 10/7/08

Over the summer the eyes of millions were fixed upon televisions, watching swimmer Michael Phelps and the United States "Redeem Team" on the hardwood. But lost in the shuffle of the Beijing Summer Olympics were the sports taking place on the diamond.

On the baseball field, the United States earned bronze over a strong Japanese team in the final year of Olympic competition for the sport of baseball. Team USA was in search of its own redemption after failing to qualify for the Athens games after winning gold in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

An integral part of the 2008 bronze medal squad was former Oregon State standout Brian Barden. Now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization, the Templeton, Calif. native was one of the select few to be invited to join the national team for baseball's last year in the Summer Olympics.

"I feel bad for future generations in high school looking forward to playing in the Olympics someday," Barden said of the removal of baseball from the Olympic schedule of events.

At OSU Barden anchored the Beaver defense while helping to lead the offense from 2000-02. In his three years in Corvallis, he hit .362 on his career without dipping below .345 in a complete season. As a freshman Barden hit .370 and started 43 games.

"Just being able to have my name associated with where I went to school it kind of promotes the school and it is a great honor," Barden said.

The former Beaver has been back and forth between the Major Leagues and Triple-A ball with his second organization, the Cardinals, having played 32 games in the Major Leagues. Barden is not one of the names that really sticks out on the Olympic roster, as college baseball fans will recognize the name of Cleveland Indians farmhand Matt LaPorta.

To Barden, his selection to the "to-be considered" list was a surprise in itself.

"Getting the chance to play in the Olympics, I didn't even realize that the Olympics were this year," he said. "Even being in the group that was being considered was a great honor."

Minor leaguers and college athletes are eligible for roster spots in baseball and with hundreds of players across the country, the selection committee has its work cut out.

A month before the final cuts were made, USA Baseball had selected 60 players for consideration. The final 60 were approached by USA Baseball and asked if they were interested, a question with an obvious answer of yes. Ten scouts dispersed across the nation to keep tabs on the 60 before the arduous process turned to focus on getting rid of 36 and keeping a 24-man team.

Upon being selected, Barden and the 23 other players made their way to Cary, N.C., the headquarters of USA Baseball. Once in Cary, practice began and exhibition games were set up with the Canadian national team in order to prepare for Beijing. The players needed to feel one another out and build on-field relationships that would translate into the clubhouse and hopefully onto the medal podium.

After the long flight to China, Barden took to the Olympic experience as many would, wide-eyed, excited and honored regarding where he was. While some athletes chose to sit out opening ceremonies in the Bird's Nest so they were ready for competition the next day, the baseball team was able to enjoy the experience with time between the ceremony and its first game.

"You just feel the energy as you walk into the stadium. It is like going to a Super Bowl game," Barden said of the Opening Ceremonies. "It was just such a great 30 seconds walking around that stadium; you just cannot explain it. It was something I have never experienced and just being in that stadium was a great honor."

In addition to opening ceremonies, the United States athletes had the opportunity to meet President Bush and reside within the Olympic Village.

"Meeting President Bush was really great," Barden said. "He is a really easy guy to talk to. It was really nice of him to take time to see us and come down during batting practice and sit down to take some photos. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip."

"The village was like a little city," Barden added. "On the outside looking in it kind of looks like a prison but you get in on the inside and it's beautifully landscaped with a little river going right through the middle of it. It had Chinese-inspired landscaping in front of dorm after dorm with countries' flags up and down the dorms."

For Barden, in addition to the free McDonald's available to the athletes, one of the treats was being able to walk around and see athletes every day. All of the countries' athletes live together and with a very large contingency of American athletes in Beijing, three or four dorms were required just for the U.S. It became just a daily thing for Barden to see gymnast Shawn Johnson and softball players like Jennie Finch wandering the hallways.

On the diamond, the U.S. club was ready to prove to people that the minor league ballplayers can do just as well as Major Leaguers in an international tournament. Team USA started out shaky against the eventual gold medalist Korea. The Americans took a one-run lead in the top of the ninth before surrendering two runs in the bottom of the inning to lose 8-7. Barden started off hot with a 3-for-4 day at the plate including a double and an RBI.

In game two Barden struggled with a 0-for-5 night against the Dutch, who lost 7-0 to Team USA that game. Barden was given the day off against baseball's international powerhouse Cuba, who eventually fell to Korea in the gold medal game. In a rivalry game of sorts, the United States knocked off Canada 5-4, while Barden accomplished what he considered a milestone in his career by hitting a solo homer to right in the Olympics.

"You want to play in the big leagues and be in the Olympic games," he said. "I have definitely been able to do both of them. To be able to go over there and even play one inning, let alone get a hit or hit a home run, I thought, 'you know, I think I'm all right if I don't get another hit in this tournament.'"

Team USA played strongly the rest of the tournament, winning three straight over the host country China, Chinese Taipei and a strong Japanese team. The American players were let down in a 10-2 loss to Cuba in the medal round before bouncing back for an 8-4 bronze-medal-clinching win over Japan.

"Playing Japan we got down early, I think 4-0," Barden said. "We were down 4-0 and said, 'we need to do it now.' We ended up getting up 8-4 and it meant a lot to walk out of there with something. To just end the tournament on a win after the loss to Cuba, we showed some character, and to walk a way with bronze is pretty special."

For Barden, who upon returning to his Memphis Redbirds was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals roster, his experience checks out as the top accomplishment on his career resume.

"It definitely felt good to go to another part of the world to play baseball that is an experience by itself," Barden said. "The opportunity to learn a new culture and meet some new people, just being around all the elite athletes in the village. Just the opportunity to get to be in the village and be at the Games, that is an experience only me and a select few people get to have. It is something I will take with me forever."

"I think if I never spent another day in the big leagues, you know that just might be all right," he continued. "Now that I am an Olympian, that kind of validates my career. Of course I want to be back in the big leagues, but if that doesn't happen I think I am OK with it."