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23rd SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES
December 6, 2005
Nats Sweep SEA Games
Reaffirm supremacy as Southeast Asia's diamond king
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Jubilant celebration. Junifer Pinero (left) fists a ball in the air, then teammates wave the Philippine flag in front of 10,000 spectators after the Nats finished off Thailand in the finale. |
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 MANILA - Lefthander Ernesto Binarao spun a complete game five-hitter and Edmer Del Socorro drove in three runs with a pair of extra-base hits as Team Philippines routed Team Thailand 11-0 in the final to complete a six-game sweep of the Southeast Asian Games Baseball tournament before a capacity crowd of around 10,000 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Nats went to work quickly with two runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth. The Thais remained steadfast but were never a serious threat at the plate, squandering scoring chances in the third and sixth innings.
Team RP then chased Thai starter Krissada Heepyhong behind a six-run eighth inning outburst that doused any hopes the visitors had of mounting a late rally and gave the Philippines its first international gold of sorts in baseball since the days of the Far Eastern Games.
It was a resounding victory for a Nats team that dominated the series by outscoring the opposition 96-7 to put Philippine Baseball on the threshold of perhaps rewriting history after remaing stagnant throughout much of the past four decades.
Before that period was an era that stretched all the way back to the Far Eastern Games of the pre-World War years when the Philippines could lay claim as Asia's baseball powerhouse, neck and neck with Japan. The rise of Korea, Taiwan, and now China in the years since has pushed RP Baseball to fifth in the region.
23rd SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES
Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, Manila
RP GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS |
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Nov 28 - RP 38, Malaysia 0
Nov 29 - RP 11, Indonesia 5
Nov 30 - RP 17, Myanmar 0
Dec 2 - RP 10, Thailand 1
Dec 3 - RP 9, Myanmar 1 (s-f)
Dec 4 - RP 11, Thailand 0 (f) |
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Team RP ace Ernesto Binarao weaved a five-hit shutout in the finale. |
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by Dan Mariano
 The [23rd Southeast Asian] Games proved truly historic because it was the first time the Philippines -- with 113 gold medals, 84 silvers and 94 bronzes -- won the overall championship. The country’s sports leaders finally got their act together to stun our Southeast Asian neighbors, some of whom quickly suspected the Filipinos of rigging the officiating.
Fortunately many events of the 23rd SEAG were beamed live via satellite [television] throughout Southeast Asia. Even the likes of the Thai Prime Minister -- who tried to exploit the unfounded allegations of cheating here to deflect attention away from his sagging political fortunes at home -- was proved wrong. The Thais and our other neighbors who were reached by [television] images beamed live from the Philippines saw how their -- and our -- athletes performed.
Baseball was one of the many events where the Philippines treated the rest of Southeast Asia to an indisputable drubbing. In their last outing the Filipino batters carved out an 11-0 win over the Thais -- despite what local aficionados called some erratic coaching on the RP side, such as making the No. 3 [hitter] bunt.
The finals were all but ignored by the local networks even in their wrap-up of the SEAG highlights. Not that it mattered to the estimated 10,000 people who filled the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium literally to the rafters. It really looked, felt, sounded -- and even smelled -- like the glory days of Philippine baseball were back.
As a boy, I regularly tagged along with my father to watch the ballgames at Rizal Memorial at the corner of Vito Cruz and what was then called Dakota (now M. Adriatico) streets. Even on workdays, my father would occasionally take time off from his work at the Manila South Harbor -- and allow me to play hooky from school -- just so I could join him watch the country’s best ballplayers in action.
Of course, all I cared for then were the hotdogs and pinipig crunches my father bought for me from roving vendors at the bleachers -- mainly to keep me still. Somehow, however, I inherited my father’s love for the game. I did eventually try to play baseball in grade school, but a wayward pitch to the groin convinced me to keep to the spectator side of the sport.
The way I remembered it, the 1950s were the peak years of the Manila Bay Baseball League, which was ruled by such teams as Canlubang and Luzteveco. .
[That December 4] Sunday, however, the Rizal Memorial diamond seemed like a veritable field of dreams where the ghosts of the country’s baseball greats took flesh one more time to bring glory back to the Philippines. "Build it and they will come," the character played by Kevin Costner was told in the [film Field of Dreams]. And come they did [that] weekend even with [television's] absence -- or perhaps because of it.
The left-handed Ernesto Binarao pitched a five-hitter that nonetheless left Thailand scoreless. Using a combination of fast and curve balls, he struck out seven Thai hitters -- sending the crowd roaring in approval. The cheers at the diamond were so loud they reverberated all the way to the tennis court where the spunky Fil-Am tandem of Eric Taino and Riza Zalameda battled their Indonesian counterparts and ultimately captured the mixed doubles gold.
[At bat], the Filipinos racked up 12 hits, four executed by shortstop Edmer del Socorro who scored twice and drove in three runs. The other players who contributed to the rout of the hapless Thais were Alejandro Velasquez, Andro Cuyugan, Junnifer Piñero, Wilfredo Hidalgo, Roel Empacis and Jonash Ponce.
From Day One of the baseball matches, it would seem only an unmitigated disaster could snatch the gold from the Filipinos.
Sunday’s victory had been foretold and anticipated. But when it came, it tasted no less sweet. Is Philippine baseball headed for a resurrection?
To be sure, the level of local play is still leagues away from that of the heavy hitters of Taiwan and Korea -- not to mention Japan. Maybe this time around, the networks could help bring the game back to life and spur it back to greatness. |
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