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HISTORY
Ushering a new era of adult baseball in the Philippine setting...
It all started one cool Sunday morning in December, 2000. A group of friends got together to play some baseball over at the Colegio San Agustin Field in Makati. They had been playing baseball for a significant portion of their lives yet always knew something was lacking. There was no organized baseball that catered to adults. Gone were their playing days during school when taking to the field thrice a week was the norm. Although a local tournament or two during the year was organized by the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA), if you really wanted to play ball, there just weren't any options beyond playing with your alma mater's squads or the occasional gathering of friends. And that meant you either had to play during weekdays if you had the time or be persistent enough to get a group together. Quite a stark contrast to the golden ages just more than half a century ago when baseball was the country's preeminent sport. In fact, as late as the early 1970's there was quite a following for the game as the historic Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium attracted crowds to capacity. But all that was about to change. Drawn by a common passion and desire to play baseball, that following year these same friends would be seen playing baseball on many given Sundays. Each playing day brought in new and old faces alike, many of whom have been out of baseball for sometime if only because there was a lack of opportunity to play the game. It was not uncommon for one soul having not touched a baseball for a few years. Yet not more than a month went by when there was no baseball to be played. Their melting pot now included the lush Alabang Country Club Field in Muntinlupa with its 300+ foot fences. Yes this was only the beginning of a new era. By July a core group of these now recreational players had formed a team for the annual PABA Seniors League. Thus was born the Titans, the country's newest team to take the field. They would be right alongside teams from the schools, the armed forces, and the lone privately-owned team, Philab. The Titans were stocked mainly with ex-collegiate varsity players from the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) ranks, some as far removed as nine years. Although the team came up short for the play-offs, it gained a victory for the long run. Baseball would be played on a regular basis catering to adult recreation. Aptly less than three months later that December, the Titans held their first refresher to usher in the upcoming 2002 baseball season. They would then join the PABA Metropolitan Baseball in March. By July 2002, the Titans had formally expanded to a baseball club seeking to revolutionize the state of the game in the country. The organization would serve as the private sector's response towards developing the sport at a sustainable level through regular competition and baseball camps with an eye for disseminating knowledge of the game into the national consciousness. |
INSIDE STORY
The TITANS Baseball Club began one day when some baseball friends decided to field a team for the upcoming Philippine Amateur Baseball Association Tournament. Excited to just get into any form of baseball activity they started contacting interested people that wanted to play, consisting of former UAAP players from all the participating universities, enthusiasts and more. Being able to form a team of 18 players, all the team lacked was a name. We had the talent; we had the motivation, but no idea on what to be called. One day during dinner at the Ledesma residence, we were brainstorming as to what we should call the team. Nothing really fit the characteristics of the team. Names were flying here and there until Bacchus' kid sister Martina said in passing, "Why not call yourselves the TITANS?" TWINKLE TWINKLE OH LA LA! A name that described us all. A title that described our skill, our passion and capabilities. The TITANS Baseball Team was born. The TITANS then entered the tournament and a year later another. It became evident that we were now an institution. We were known as the TITANS and invited in all tourneys as the TITANS. Now a new question arose: Would it be that the TITANS exist only when a tournament takes place? The answer was NO. We should have baseball at least six months a year. We should have something to look forward to every weekend. We decided that we should not only limit this baseball to ourselves, but to involve everyone as well. We should get people of all types and all kinds, young and old, involved in this. Players from UAAP schools and non-UAAP schools. Make it a family game. We then dropped the TEAM from TITANS Baseball and replaced it with CLUB. |
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