Baseball Philippines FAQ


1) Will there be open try-outs for the upcoming Baseball Philippines Series V & VI?

Yes, there will be two open try-out days for BP. Those who try-out on the said days will be eligible for the draft for Series V and VI. BP usually opens try-out days once in every Season. It is the current policy of the league to ensure that all players entered into a team’s roster must have gone through BP try-outs (exception to this rule would be to lift this rule and allow a team limited slots for “direct hires”). “Direct hires” are players who need not go through any BP sanctioned try-outs or draft (this opportunity is given to all teams in the event it is implemented). Those who try-out but are not chosen by any team during the draft will be considered as “free agents”. Free agents may be picked up by any team within Series V or VI during the allowed period specified by BP Technical Committee.

Try-outs for the BP program will be on Feb 7 (1 p.m. Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium) and final day on Feb 21 (9 a.m. Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium). Drafting for the JBP and BP programs will be done on Feb 21 at 2 p.m. (Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium).


2) Who can try-out? How does one try-out? Can foreigners try-out? How about players who do not live near Manila?


2.1 Steps for local players to try-out (Players within Metro Manila):

  1. Player must attend at least one try-out day on time.

  2. He must register at the secretariat booth and fill up a player application form (including a liability waiver form)

  3. After registering, player must specify his chosen position (usually his strong position) to the facilitator on what he wishes to try-out for. Players will not be allowed to choose multiple positions. After declaring position, he will be assigned a number for the try-out session.

  4. Player will participate by performing certain drills needed by the BP technical committee to evaluate the players.

  5. After the drills, the player’s name will be officially part of the player pool. All names in the player pool will be given the opportunity to be chosen by any team manager for all future BP Series competitions. Only players who have violated rules of the league may be stricken of this privilege (BP Technical Committee has the right to ban or eject any player’s name from the list if it finds the player guilty of any violation of league rules).

  6. The player will then wait until draft day to be selected into any team. If not chosen, his name will remain in the list as a free agent for future selection.


2.2 Additional steps needed for local players (Players who do not live near Metro Manila):

  1. Player has the option to travel and be present on the actual try-out session and complete the steps stated in 2.1. (Travel expenses will be shouldered by the player and not by the league).

  2. Players who can not afford to travel may send their bio-data (would be best to include statistics of your most recent tournament played in) with referral contacts of the leagues/tournaments participated in or coaches/managers who have witnessed you play. Documents may be sent via email to info@baseballphilippines.com or fax to (632)8921768 or mailing address:

Community Sports Inc.

5th Floor Pilgrim Building, 111 Aguirre Street,

Legaspi Village, Makati City


Note: All expenses to be incurred for mailing documents will be for account of player. Videos or photo documents of the player in action will also be appreciated.


  1. Due to the lack of financial resources, the BP Technical Committee will limit its try-out venues to Metro Manila locations. Any out of town (outside Metro Manila) try-out session will be entertained by the committee only when the required funds are available.


2.3 Steps for foreign players (Half Filipino or Full-blooded foreign players):

League Rule: Each team is entitled to have two full-blooded foreign players in its roster for as long as the player is an enrolled undergraduate student and is a temporary resident of the Philippines. (However, he must have played in Series I, II, III and IV or has tried-out.) All full-blooded foreigner players who wish to enter BP must participate in the try-outs by method either 2.1 or 2.2.

League Rule: There will be no restrictions to Filipino-foreigner players for as long as they can provide the necessary documents to prove their Filipino lineage. (Filipino passport, Birth Certificate of parents or Grandparents). All Filipino-foreigner players will be subject to the same steps stipulated in 2.1 or 2.2.

2.4 Steps for full-blooded foreign players that are finished with undergraduate studies or have not finished undergraduate studies (Living in the Philippines or outside of the Philippines):

a) All interested players must participate in the try-outs via 2.1 or 2.2

Note: Baseball Philippines is an amateur league and not a professional league. The existing team owners/investors in BP have assessed the current set-up of the league and agreed that they are not ready to compensate any player who wants to play for money. Only is special situations will team managers provide transportation and food allowance for chosen players.

3) If I tried out before and was not chosen by any team, do I have to try-out again?

All players who have tried-out before and were not chosen by any team may opt to participate in try-out sessions to improve his previous evaluation. If the player does not wish to improve his evaluation points, he may opt not to try-out for a second time. (His name will still be included in the player pool list during drafting and selection periods)



4) Are women allowed in the league?

Initial thrust of Baseball Philippines is to focus on male participation. When the time is right, Baseball Philippines will eventually spearhead another program for the women ballplayers.

5) Is there a fee to be paid for those who try-out?

No fees are needed to participate in try-out sessions. Only the furnishing of personal information documents will have to be shouldered by the individual applicant.

6) Will there be TV coverage?

Baseball Philippines dream is to have majority of our games televised, but due to meager resources, BP will have to find other ways, financial supporters or media partners to help achieve this dream.

At present, we are happy to enjoy a partnership with the Makisig Network. We are now airing a thirty (30) minute show entitled Ninth (9th) Inning which airs every Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Makisig TV. Sky channel 76 or 82.

9th Inning is a magazine show that features different personalities involved in BP and outside of BP, action highlights of BP and other tournaments, baseball 101 segment (for those who want to learn more on the rudiments of the game), profiling of the top young and seasoned players in the league, and other exciting features that showcase baseball in the Philippines.

BP has also been trying other ways to feature the games through web cast or live streaming. We are currently working on the logistics of these methods. Our aim is to bring the game closer to our fans that are not as fortunate to visit the playing venues.

Our first taste of a Televised game coverage came last December 14, 2008 when Makisig network covered Game 2 of our BP Championship Series between Dumaguete versus Cebu. This game was officially aired on Makisig channel last December 28, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Replays are being done on a weekly basis on the same channel.

We hope to duplicate or better this achievement in Series V by having more games covered and televised in cable as well as Free TV.

7) Will there be Provincial games?

Yes, the league intends to have provincial or outside of Manila venues, the team owner/investors have committed amongst each other to push for a “home” venue for each team. This will allow the league to take a more aggressive approach by bringing the games closer to the people in the select areas (like Taguig, Muntinlupa, and Lipa Batangas) for this 2009 Season; and maybe Cebu and Dumaguete venues for 2010. The number of games to be played on the new venues will be determined mid-year depending on the site development progress of the said areas.


8) Will there be more major sponsors to tie up with BP to sustain the league and to uplift the lives of all players?


We will be. The founding directors of BP along with its pioneer team owners & managers are positive that more forward looking sponsors will embrace a project that has been packaged to succeed. The first two seasons of BP has surely proved to raise the bar among many sports ventures in many fronts. We are confident that in 2009 we will see additional partnerships to be consummated and existing ones to be strengthened. The league will find partners that will help keep our costs at a minimum and funnel in more needed resources to further our goal of developing the league.

9) Will there be expansion teams to join this season?

After the success of the six teams in Series IV, the league has received team owner/investor interest from new sport loving businesspersons and baseball aficionados. Although the existing pool of talent will only be sufficient for the six teams in BP (most of those left out are the young players 18 yrs old and under), the league will introduce side by side with BP Series V the Junior Baseball Philippines (JBP) program with four initial teams for its pilot Series to kick-off on April along with the Baseball Philippines program.

The players for the JBP will comprise male athletes within the 15-17 year old range. Try-outs for the JBP will be on the following dates and venues: Jan 24 (9a.m. at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium), Jan 31 (9 a.m. at the Alabang Country Club Baseball fields), and final day on Feb 7 (9 a.m. at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium)

  1. Invite any popular MLB player(s) in the Philippines to promote the game?

    Full blooded Filipino Geno Espineli’s visit to the Philippines not only proved to many Filipinos that given the right training, game exposure, and nutrition any Filipino aspirant can make it big in the Majors or Minor Leagues. Geno also made sure his visit was big in Manila by helping push the sport into the minds of our fellow Filipinos; here are some o the activities that Geno did during his 4 day trip to Manila:

    1. Geno visited the Championship day (December 13) of the local league held in Muntinlupa, the “KIDS Tournament of Champions”, and inspired the kids by giving out their awards and teaching around 100 plus players the proper pitching techniques during a clinic held on the same day.

    2. Geno also visited Game Two of the BPCS on December 14 and threw out the Ceremonial pitch. He stayed for the whole game and was impressed with the play of both teams, Cebu & Dumaguete.

    3. He then visited our only pay for play basketball league, Philippine Basketball Association, and was introduced to the many fans in the Coliseum and to the millions of Filipino television viewers.

    4. He spent his third day hopping from one TV station to the other and was special guest to a press conference to help spread the news that the Filipino can make it to the Big Leagues.

    5. He was honored by the hosting of US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and the US Cultural Affairs at the Ambassador’s residence. Geno was also welcomed by many baseball delegates along with the top basketball legends, professional and collegiate players, officials and top sports corporations in the country during the barbeque hosting.

    6. Geno spent his last day in the most appropriate way…by visiting his mother’s hometown of Lumban, Laguna, where he visited the remains of his grandparents that took care of him as a child in the U.S., he was congratulated by the Provincial Mayor and his staff, and was also given a warm welcome by his relatives during a luncheon at his uncle’s home.

To also help promote the sport we also had MLB Director of Baseball Development (Asia), Rick Dell, visit the Philippines last January 10 & 11, 2009 to run player evaluation camps. Baseball Philippines and Junior Baseball & Softball Foundation of the Philippines invited around 80 young players that went through a skills evaluation. The tests allowed Mr. Dell to quantify each player’s skill sets and create a performance measure database of the available talent. Mr. Dell hopes to select and sponsor a few promising players to attend the Australia or Beijing baseball academy run by Major League Baseball. Players who graduate from this eight-week baseball module sponsored by MLB will surely improve the performance of our players and will give an equal opportunity for our homegrown talents to show case their abilities.

Next promising steps of Mr. Dell would be to find a way to improve our coaching and umpiring personnel by sending some veteran and key MLB certified coach envoys and umpiring experts.

The future looks bright for Philippine Baseball…

11) Did any of them (Espineli, Dell, et al) mention if the Filipino talent is any good?

Geno Espineli expressed that if we stay on the right track the Philippines can once again be a superpower in Asia. He also said that his fellow team mate Tim Lincecum is only 5 foot 11 inches and is half-Filipino (proving that height is not a major factor in the sport). Geno validated our initial finding that many of our young talent is up to par with the rest of the world (He said that he saw many young pitchers during the Finals of the KIDS Tournament of Champions held in Alabang last December13 who are pitching even better than he was at the young age). This proves that as long as we keep these young talents playing the sport and improving their skill sets every year, we may end up with not only one Geno Espineli but possibly even ten or twenty Espinelis or Lincecums (our future powerhouse national team).

  1. How about foreign pitchers?

BP welcomes foreign pitchers. The league will benefit immensely with the influx of foreign pitchers. Sourcing such talent from other countries would be one of our priority programs in order for us to elevate the level of play in the league.

  1. Merchandise on-line?

Yes, BP has began selling merchandise (caps, jerseys, key chains, t-shirts, and pins) at the playing venue since Series II and we are currently working on the logistical concerns with a partner freight company to handle deliveries outside of Manila and hopefully to foreign destinations as well. Please be patient with us for we are trying to get the best deal possible to ensure value for money on your on-line purchase.

  1. Wooden bats?

Yes, the league allows players to use wooden bats since the launching of Series I. Only hurdle we see is the cost of purchasing these bats on a regular basis may not be a priority for the current team managers.

  1. Complete and up to-date statistics of the players at the site?

After BP personnel experienced some technical problems with its old statistical software, BP has currently purchased a new baseball statistics software last November 2008 and we have been working on the careful data transferring. We will soon post a complete stats page from Series I to IV and will maintain timely updates from week to week.

  1. More games?

Due to existing financial and logistical limitations, BP teams will continue to enjoy playing an estimated 25 games per year. The league hopes to double that in the years to come. More games will mean more playing experience for our local talent, and this is definitely our common direction.


  1. What is essentially BP’s goal?


Allow us to share with you some notes from our planning sessions two years ago spearheaded by our good friend, the late Jun Bernardino, who was key to the creation of BP.

Our primary objective is to ensure the sustainable growth of the league; and our secondary objective is to link BP with other organizations that will complete the structure from the grassroots level to the highest level (these partnerships shall serve as the foundation for the success of bringing the sport to the next level). Upon achieving these two objectives, this will lead to many inter-related positive results such as:

  1. the formation of a solid national squad,

  2. more talent being recognized and scouted by international organizations,

  3. more youth players embracing the sport,

  4. more communities and schools that will include the sport into their annual programs,

  5. more fields being built to satisfy demand,

  6. more media to follow the progress of the sport that will lead to stronger awareness,

  7. maybe due to critical mass even lawmakers may pass laws that will protect the progress of the sport.

  1. When is Series 5 going to start?

Opening day for 2009 Season (Series 5 & 6) will be on April 12 (Easter Sunday) which will feature the 2nd BP All-Star Game (Selection Cebu-Muntinlupa-Batangas vs Taguig-Dumaguete-Manila). Teams from the JBP and BP will parade their colors before the All-Star Game. We intend to have some preliminary games played before the April 12 opening like on the 1st weekend of April.


  1. Who do we call or contact in case we have any additional inquiries?

Please contact anyone at our office landlines:


(632) 8922231

(632) 8921768 (Telefax)


Address: Community Sports Inc.

5th Floor 111 Aguirre Street

Legaspi Village, Makati City.