Actually there were some MLB players on some of the qualifying teams and other international teams that have gotten beat and no attention was paid to it. And truthfully, if the US did allow the stars to play they would still lose the gold. Barry Bonds and all of the American stars would still probably get beat by Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or Puerto Rico. People don't realize how many huge MLB stars are not American. The NBA did not send their "Barry Bonds" or "Roger Clemens". They sent their "Khalil Greens" and "Marcus Giles". Great young players but mostly developing players. The Shaquille O'neal's, Kobe's, McGrady's, Kidd's opted not to play. These are the same players that ran through the qualifying rounds.