Why no baseball? - who are the sports heroes?
John Neal
Why is baseball not big in the Philippines? Sports are often one aspect of
colonialism readily picked up by the indigenous population (cricket being
a good example) yet despite the RP's long association with the US baseball
does not appear to be a particularly popular sport.
It's not a climate thing as areas of the Caribbean are huge on baseball
and it's big in some Asian countries such as Japan. Latinos are very well
represented in professional baseball and one would think that the
Philippines would produce some top players. Basketball seems to be the
only American sport to have made any impact and gridiron football is not
played at all.
The most popular sport seems to be pool or billiards.
The more I think about it the odder it is. Should not the Philippines be
the Asian Dominican Republic? Baseball - the means to escape and make the
big dough.
The RP seems to be rather lacking in sports accomplishments. Good at
certain martial arts but the country has never won an Olympic medal and
lacks behind most other Asian countries.
I think it's something to do with the balut...
Some quick research finds these sports heroes. Who am I missing?
Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno
Although bowling is not included as a regular sport in the Olympic Games,
bowling champion Rafael Nepomuceno or Paeng was awarded the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) President's trophy. He is also regarded by some as
the greatest Filipino athlete of all time. As a bowling champion, Paeng
won 112 tournament titles, including four World Cup championships achieved
in three decades. He won the World Cup title in 1976 (Teheran), 1980
(Jakarta), 1992 (Le Mans, France) and 1996 (Castleragh, Northern Ireland).
Efren "Bata" Reyes
Efren, the Magician is described by billiard aficionados as the greatest
player who has played the game. His brilliance at the pool table had its
peak at the 1999 World 9-Ball Championship in Wales. Using his magic cue
stick, Efren also won a string of titles in tournaments in England, the
United States and the Philippines. In 1999, he received the Athlete of the
Year award following his victories in Wales and in the 20th Southeast
Asian Games in Brunei.
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde
This boxer from Cebu ruled his weight category for almost a decade. In his
career, Elorde fought 107 bouts, winning 79, including 8 by knockout. He
became world champion in the junior lightweight division when he knocked
out America boxer Harold Gomes on 16 March 1960. He held the title for
seven years. In 1974, the World Boxing Council honored him as "the
greatest world junior light-weight boxing champion in WBC history."
Pancho Villa
Villa, named the greatest flyweight of the century by a group of boxing
historians and scholars recently, became the first world champion from
Asia when he knocked out Englishman Jimmy Wilde at New York's Polo Grounds
in June 1923.
Lydia de Vega
Trackster Lydia de Vega, a native of Bulacan, was considered the fastest
woman in Asia. As Asia's sprint queen, she was the first woman to win
back-to-back gold medals in the 100-meter dash in the Asian Games in 1986,
when she beat a field led by her archrival, India's P.T. Usha, in Seoul.
Who are the Fil-Ams playing professional sports in the US? Baseball player
Benny Agbayani is the only one I know of.
John Neal
max
I hope you wouldn't mind if I call you on your first name.
I agree with your observation about baseball in the Philippines. I was born
43 years ago in a barrio called Canlubang Sugar Estate, 50 kilometers away
from Manila and privately owned by the Yulo family. After the Americans
ended the 300 years of Spain's colonization, they put up a sugar mill in
1911 and this was also the start of the American way of living in this
unique barrio. Obviously baseball was the no. sport during that time. It
continued to be popular even after the Japanese occupation. Madrigal and
Yulo( the owners respectively after the Ameicans) clan adopted the same
system and hired an American to magnage the sugar mill. Then the "Canlubang
Sugar Barons" was born, a baseball team that was so popular and had the
opportunity to go against the U.S team lead by no other than Babe Ruth. ( By
the way, BR was struck out by a slow pitch during the game in Canlubang but
manage to get a home run in Manila.)
Baseball drafts was implemented in the barrio. All able bodied 8 years old
and above and sons of sugar mill employees were hereby "ordered" to register
and join the inter-color little league tournaments. I was scared of the
hard ball but I have no choice but to tryout. We even have our very own
stadium with concrete bleachers.
The Japanese was the no. 1 rival team in the region from 60's to early 70's.
There was the pretigious Manila Bay Baseball League (MBBL) tournament with
about 6 teams. Unfortunately due to the popularity of basketball and the
Canlubang Sugar Baron's unrelentless wins in all the tournaments, other
teams just gave up and this was the end of Pro baseball in the land.
There were people who tried to bring back baseball. There were the Little
League world champioships that the Philippines won in the U.S and the public
was so happy but before other kids could learn the game the country was
shocked to learn about the news about the allegedly age limit scandal that
divested the team of the championship.
It was very sad. We now have the much popular PBA (Phil. Basketball Asso,)
that pays its players generously and it's ironic that we even cannot win any
basketball tournament in Asia (except Sea games)).
The Canlubang Sugar Barons was composed of sugar mill factory workers that
does not mind the financial aspect of the game. They are just out there to
win and also for the love of the game. At present Baseball may not be
popular in the country but I'm sure and I'm very sure that it is within the
soul of each and every boy in a barrio called Canlubang. "Let's play ball".
Max Casapao
max
max
John Neal
Thanks for your very interesting post.
Here is a little bit more information I found from a Cavite web site:-
Baseball is known as the great American pastime. So when the Americans
occupied Cavite City and established the 16th US Naval District also known
as the Cavite Navy Yard, the Filipino boys here were the first to be
taught the rudiments of the game. As we all know, sports was something
strange to the Spaniards. They preferred the La Jota, the Paso-Doble or
the Rigodon.
When the Americans built in the base here, the youth of the city began to
learn how baseball is played as taught by American sailors and officers at
the Navy Yard. It was not unexpected therefore that baseball became the
first popular game here. After some years, the Caviteños, most of them now
working at the base were honing their know-how of the game with their
American mentors.
By the 1930s a Filipino-American team had begun competing in the
Philippine Baseball League at the then Nozaleda Park (now part of Rizal
Park). The team was known as the Cavite Navy Yarders and won most of the
championships. It was composed of mainly Filipino players and a few
Americans.
The now baseball-minded Caviteños went agog over the local boys who make
good. The best known players were the Oncinian brothers, Armando, the
top-rate pitcher, Ramon, the fleet footed centerfielder and Toribio, the
stonewall catcher. Another brother act was two Platons, Charlie the
backstop and the diminutive Mickey, the agile shortstop. Together with
Ignacio Viray, a lanky long-hitting first sacker and the wily
third-baseman Manuel Caguia, they bested the opposing teams from
Corregidor (Fort Mills), Fort William McKinley, Fort Stotsenburg and Clark
Field. Unlike the Cavite Navy Yarders, these teams were white. They were
Messer and Huebner, alternating at second base and the heavy-hitter,
Chenoweth.
The tragic story of the Oncinian brothers Toribio and Ramon was a dark
episode in Cavite City baseball. Both were killed during the bombing raid
by Japanese planes on December 10, 1941 at the start of WWII. Only the
great Armando survived. But the Oncinian name in baseball did not end
there. Toribio's son Leonardo himself became an able pitcher and
dependable centerfielder.
Ramon's son, Isagani also played major baseball later. Armando sired Benny
Oncinian who pitched for different teams including the Navy.
Armando meanwhile continued to shine on the mound. His most outstanding
feat which will long remain in the saga of Philippine baseball was in 1935
when he struck out the great Babe Ruth in an exhibition game against the
US Big Leaguers at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. It was a 2 and 1 pitch
which came in slow then suddenly slid down. Babe Ruth gave it a whack but
whiffed the air. For awhile, the bambino looked at Armando, then doffed
his cap to him and walked out to the dug-out amid the deafening cheers for
Armando for the full packed stadium.
Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Fox, Charlie Gehringer and Lefty Gomez were there. It
was an All-Star Baseball league team versus an all Filipino team.
John Neal
Norman G. Owen
>
> A curious thought.
>
> Why is baseball not big in the Philippines? Sports are often one aspect of
> colonialism readily picked up by the indigenous population (cricket being
> a good example) yet despite the RP's long association with the US baseball
> does not appear to be a particularly popular sport.
>
> It's not a climate thing as areas of the Caribbean are huge on baseball
> and it's big in some Asian countries such as Japan. Latinos are very well
> represented in professional baseball and one would think that the
> Philippines would produce some top players. Basketball seems to be the
> only American sport to have made any impact and gridiron football is not
> played at all.
>
> The most popular sport seems to be pool or billiards.
>
> The more I think about it the odder it is. Should not the Philippines be
> the Asian Dominican Republic? Baseball - the means to escape and make the
> big dough.
Joseph Reaves, an American journalist, wrote an MPhil dissertation on
the "History of Baseball in Asia" here at the U of Hong Kong (under my
co-supervision, I modestly note!) which is about to be published by the
University of Nebraska Press under the title, I believe, of "Confucian
in the Bullpen." There's a chapter on baseball on the Philippines, its
rise and fall, that will provide answers -- though hardly definitive
ones, as Joe himself would admit -- to many of your questions.
Norman G. Owen
ngo...@hku.hk
Norman G. Owen
> The RP seems to be rather lacking in sports accomplishments. Good at
> certain martial arts but the country has never won an Olympic medal and
> lacks behind most other Asian countries.
At least two Filipinos, competing for the Philippines, won bronze
medals in Track & Field, the Olympic sport I know best: Simeon Toribio
in the High Jump (!) in 1932, and Miguel White in the 400 meter hurdles
in 1936.
I believe Filipinos have also medalled in boxing, but I don't follow
that as closely.
If you include Filipino-Americans, by far the most successful Olympian
would be Victoria Manalo, who won both women's dives in 1948 and was, I
believe, the first diver, M or F, to win both dives in the same
Olympics.
There are legitimate questions to be asked about why Filipinos have not
had more success in sports, but before you speculate too far you need to
get up to speed with what Filipinos *have* accomplished.
Norman G. Owen
ngo...@hku.hk
Norman G. Owen
>
> John Neal wrote:
>
> > The RP seems to be rather lacking in sports accomplishments. Good at
> > certain martial arts but the country has never won an Olympic medal and
> > lacks behind most other Asian countries.
>
> At least two Filipinos, competing for the Philippines, won bronze
> medals in Track & Field, the Olympic sport I know best: Simeon Toribio
> in the High Jump (!) in 1932, and Miguel White in the 400 meter hurdles
> in 1936.
>
> I believe Filipinos have also medalled in boxing, but I don't follow
> that as closely.
>
> If you include Filipino-Americans, by far the most successful Olympian
> would be Victoria Manalo, who won both women's dives in 1948 and was, I
> believe, the first diver, M or F, to win both dives in the same
> Olympics.
>
> There are legitimate questions to be asked about why Filipinos have not
> had more success in sports, but before you speculate too far you need to
> get up to speed with what Filipinos *have* accomplished.
>
> Norman G. Owen
> ngo...@hku.hk
>
Following up, I was able to identify 5 Olympic boxing medallists from
the Philippines: Jose Villanueva (bronze 1932), his son Anthony
Villanueva (silver 1964), Leopolodo Serrantes (bronze 1988), Rod Velasco
(bronze 1992), Onyok Velasco (silver 1996).
Another source puts the Philippine total medal count at 0 gold, 2
silver (= A. Villanueva and 0. Velasco), and 7 bronze (= 3 other boxers
named here, 2 track & field named earlier, and two others still unknown
to me). Not a brilliant record, by any means, but not totally
negligible, either.
Norman G. Owen
ngo...@hku.hk
John Neal
I'm glad to be corrected. Thanks for another good example how newsgroups
can provide authoritive information.
Bio of Victoria Darves.
b. Dec. 31, 1924, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.
née Victoria Manalo,byname VICKIE, American diver who was the first woman
to win Olympic gold medals in both springboard and platform diving,
accomplishing this feat at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
Draves' father was Filipino, and growing up in San Francisco during World
War II she confronted racism; a swimming club required her to alter her
last name in order to train in its facilities. She was already a noted
diver at the age of 16, and in 1946 she won her first U.S. outdoor
highboard diving championship, marrying her coach, Lyle Draves, the same
year. She retained the highboard championship in 1947 and 1948 and also
won the indoor 3-metre diving championship in 1948. Draves excelled in
platform diving, and at the 1948 Games she accumulated 68.87 points to win
the platform event. In the springboard event she earned 108.74 points to
finish just 0.51 point ahead of fellow American Zoe Ann Olsen and win the
gold. She was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 1969.
Go Filipina!
John Neal
JTHomeDesk
Years ago, the Philippine little league team was in the little league world
series. They ended up winning the series, but eventually had their title pulled
because of cheating. They had over age players which was against the little
league rules. This has been a black eye for Philippine baseball and they have
yet to recover from that as far as baseball goes.
Penpendisarapen
John Neal wrote:
> The RP seems to be rather lacking in sports accomplishments. Good at
> certain martial arts but the country has never won an Olympic medal
> and
> lacks behind most other Asian countries.
>
IMHO, one of the reasons that baseball did not catch on is the need for
equipment. Notice that most of the sports played by the sports heroes
you have listed require minimal equipment:
Paeng Nepumuceno, Bowling - Equipment = Bowling ball
Efren "Bata" Reyes, Billiards - Equipment = A stick
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde & Pancho Villa, Boxing - Equipment = Gloves
Lydia de Vega, Track & Field - Equipment = Fast Feet
While Bowling and billiards require other equipment, bowling lanes and
billiard halls can be found in many places in the country. The most
popular sport by far is basketball and all you need for that sport is a
ball and a hoop. Baseball requires 9 mitts, bats, helmets and a field
big enough for the game. Most people can't afford the equipment required
for the sport. Besides, the game can be slow and unexciting.
BBQ
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NESTOR P ENRIQUEZ
baseball was played. Canlubang Sugar Baron was more or less the Yankee team
of the area and the big star was Lefty Briones who doubled as a powerful
slugger. College's kids like Lefty Viray, Mariquit later played but the
rivalry was mostly against the American team based in Sangley Point
appropriately nicknamed "BlueJay" and another team from Clark Field. One of
the players later coached the infamous short live little World Series
Champion from the Philippines. Viray, Mariquit, and others settled in the
US but never played in the major league.
Yes that was in the 50's and Sangley Point was under the US Navy. It was
so long ago that there were still Filipino Sailors under the US Navy called
the "Insular Navy" who were only assigned within the Philippines water. It
was the equivalent of the US Army's unit called "Philippine Scout" and they
were of course paid below the regular US Navy pay scale.
http://members.xoom.com/philam2000
Coming to America Website
"Norman G. Owen" <ngo...@hku.hk> wrote in message
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