Titans Baseball Club - Philippines

WHAT exactly is a successful 40-year-old information technology executive doing standing in the piercing sunlight on a Saturday morning clad in a brightly colored jersey and wielding an aluminum bat? Following his life's passion: baseball.

For Frederick "Ricky" Gumaru, baseball is something worth pursuing. Born and raised in Marikina, Ricky discovered the lure of the diamond when he was in fifth grade at Marist School, traditionally a baseball and softball power. "I didn't make the team that year," he smiles, "but I made it the year after as a catcher." That was the beginning of what would prove to be a lasting relationship between Ricky and the game of homeruns. He would continue to carry the Marist colors in high school, a stretch during which the school won one championship after another "for nine years straight" in two leagues.

By now, Ricky was totally absorbed by life in the diamond and after his high school graduation in 1979, he went on to wear the jersey of the Blue Eagles of the Ateneo as he took up Business Management. Unlike the dominant teams of his high school, the struggling Ateneo team was a new experience for him. "In three years, we only won once, and that was because the other team only dressed eight players - so we won by default." Ricky was the first baseball player from Marist to suit up for the Ateneo, but others would soon follow. In fact, Ricky points out, "six players from Marist are on the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champion La Salle team and one was even responsible for winning the championship by hitting a homerun."

Ricky thought his baseball days were finally done as he graduated and took a job in the growing IT industry and took his MBA in 1988. He moved from one job to another, including a stint in real estate and development, all the while climbing the corporate ladder. Today, Ricky is the Chief Operating Officer of IT solutions provider SysGen, or Systems Generators Philippines, Inc.

Baseball returned to his life when a few friends coaxed him into suiting up again for a few games just for fun. "Somebody called and said, hey, there's a pickup game at the Ateneo and I was the oldest one." They played around three games. Then two years ago, Ricky took part in a slo-pitch softball tournament. "It was 15 years after I had last played competitive ball and there I was, up against national team players, former national team players and players from Canlubang." Of course, it didn't go all the way he wanted. "I almost tore a ligament in my shoulder," Ricky winces. "But I did rediscover my love for baseball."

It was then that he discovered the unique proposition of the Titans Baseball Club, which actually held games at his home field at Marist. "So I go there for a game and found that it was actually designed for adult players or those who were already out of college and otherwise without an opportunity to play." Titans Baseball features a mix of younger players as well, including high school batters. "Titans Baseball enables folks like me to play and even non-players."

Since then, Ricky has been devoting himself to the cause of Titans Baseball as an ambassador and adviser. The club has activities all year long. Last summer, the Titans had a series of pre-season camps to help players get back into shape before their league proper. The summer circuit, dubbed the Titans League, kicked off last April and ended last month, crowning Antipolo City as the champion. Everyone gets drafted and everyone gets to play. The range of participants is vast-ranging from complete newbies to former national players, with teams coming from as far as Taguig and Canlubang. "We even have girls in the Titans and they play alongside the boys," Ricky says about the mix, noting that "the average age is about 20-30." His high school alma mater Marist fields a team and Ricky also finds the games a great chance to expand his network of contacts as President of the Marist Alumni Association.

"[Entrenched] in the Titans' long-term vision is to put the fun back into baseball." As Titans grows, Ricky sees enough people joining their group so that "ten years from now we can have a competitive league..." His involvement with Titans is because he simply wants to play again and because he wants to do his part to sustain the sport. Obviously it's going to take a lot of effort but it can happen."

Eventually, Ricky dreams of the day when a Filipino can play in the American major leagues. "I'd like to see the time when scouts come here because they know that there's talent here." [A promising] player of Filipino descent to play in major league baseball was Benny Agbayani, formerly of the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies. "But there are a lot of Asians in the big leagues now," Ricky emphasizes, naming the Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki and the New York Yankees' Hideki Matsui.

Ricky is among a group of devoted people who help out Titans Commissioner Bacchus Ledesma. Membership in Titans Baseball only costs P500 a year and games are played across the National Capital Region.

"We would like to thank the Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain for approving the free use of the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium [during the latter half of June]."

Though he carries the burning love for baseball in him, Ricky has not been able to pass it on to his three daughters. "No, they don't play baseball and I'm not a baseball dad," he chuckles. "I'm more the drama club dad. I bring them there and after a few minutes they already want to go home."

Yet he persists, despite the seeming national apathy, despite the aches and pains. Ricky and the dedicated of Titans Baseball won't let this particular game end. "It's special because everybody's welcome," he enthuses. "Normally after college kasi, the kids stop playing but the love of the game never dies."

For his own purposes, Ricky Gumaru, perhaps the oldest boy of summer, is still dreaming of endless days in the diamond. "I'm already 40 and 40 pounds overweight but I hope I can still play the game until I'm 60."