10 years later, Olympic memories still strong for Chicago Cubs' Duensing

Brian Duensing doesn't make it home to Omaha often during the season and rarely has a reason to take his 2008 Olympic bronze medal out of the safety deposit box where he keeps it.

For a long time, his children didn't believe it was real.

"They saw it for the first time last year," Duensing said. "I went and spoke at my daughter's school about the Olympics and had the medal. My daughter's eyes went a little wider when she realized what was going on."

It has been almost 10 years since the current Chicago Cubs left-handed relief pitcher was a late addition to Team USA for the 2008 Beijing Games, the last time baseball was in the Olympics.

Thanks largely to baseball's absence from the Games in 2012 and 2016, the 35-year-old Duensing is the only current Cub to play for Team USA at the Olympics. Starting pitcher Yu Darvish played on Japan in the 2008 games.

Former Cubs Dexter Fowler, Jake Arrieta and Trevor Cahill were teammates of Duensing's on Team USA in 2008.

Duensing previously had pitched for USA at the 2007 Baseball World Cup, so he was familiar with the coaches and many of the players. When the White Sox called up pitcher Clayton Richard in July 2008, it left an open spot on the Olympic team.

At the time, Duensing was playing for the Minnesota Twins' Triple-A club in Rochester, New York.

"It was a giant whirlwind," Duensing recalled. "The next thing you know, we're on a 14-hour flight straight (over) the North Pole."

Duensing flew out to San Jose, California, to meet with the team and pick up his equipment. The team then flew to USA Baseball's headquarters in North Carolina and scrimmaged against Canada. Then Duensing and his teammates flew to China.

What Duensing remembers most about the experience is living in the Olympic Village and meeting other athletes.

One day he had lunch next to Michael Phelps, who was chasing his historic 8 gold medals at the 2008 Games. At the Opening Ceremony, he chatted for a while with 21-year-old judo bronze-medalist Ronda Rousey. Rousey later became a UFC star and is now signed with the WWE.

"I didn't know that's who it was until she became big time," Duensing said. "That was interesting. You'd see (Rafael) Nadal, all these athletes. You don't get a chance to talk to a lot of them.

"It's amazing to see all these countries, some of which I may never have heard of, but all competing. It was a really cool experience."

Before the games, President George W. Bush - a baseball fan and former part owner of the Texas Rangers - met with USA Baseball and each player had a chance to shake his hand and talk with him.

The U.S. baseball team lost two of its first three games before battling back to finish the group stage at 5-2. Duensing pitched 3 innings and earned the win in a key group-stage victory over Canada.

Cuba defeated the Americans 10-2 in the semifinals. Future Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg suffered the loss. The U.S. then beat Japan 8-4 for the bronze medal.

"The medal ceremony, standing on the podium, I feel like we underachieved with bronze," Duensing said. "But, at the same time, to say you won a medal is pretty special."

After the Olympics, Oprah Winfrey hosted all the U.S. medalists at Millennium Park. She interviewed some of the Beijing Games stars. At one point, softball pitcher Jennie Finch sat down after her interview with Oprah and there was Duensing on screen, sitting behind Finch.

With 10 years passed since baseball was an Olympic sport, the number of Olympians in the MLB continues to dwindle. Two years from now, though, baseball and softball return for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, and the next generation will have its shot at gold.

"I guess I'm getting old," Duensing said. "A lot of the guys I played with there aren't playing anymore.

"It's good to see it back, I think it's going to be good for a lot of reasons."