Got Game?
Attitude will define baseball's place in today's sporting world
The Negros Roosters and Makati Mariners salute the Philippine Flag prior to their contest in Series 1. (Photo - Jonas Terrado)
Baseball embraced a new era in Southeast Asia with the unveiling of Baseball Philippines last summer. The new circuit brings together a united front towards raising the level of the game in the archipelago. It is a testament to the country’s bid for a long-sought return to respectability on the diamond.
Lurking behind the grand old game, however, is an old story so eerily familiar in local baseball circles that continues to haunt today’s game. It goes something like this…
The level of competition in the old days was far superior. Players back then exhibited discipline astutely deflected by their lackadaisical peers these days. Teams would take the field for pre-game routines two hours before the first pitch. Fielders would run to their positions with a warm-up ball in tow at the beginning of every half inning. Stick-wielding men would take their cuts in eager anticipation at the on-deck circle. The fist-sized white sphere would then shift hands routinely across the diamond after an out was recorded and the players would rush back to their dugout at inning’s end in anticipation of their at bat.
Crowds would fuel the intensity, flocking to the ballpark whether it was the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium or the green pastures of Canlubang Stadium. Peanut vendors would frolic the stands where howling voices would speak their minds and leave an echo in players’ ears. The Asian giants of today were mere mortals back then. And so the story goes…
On the heels of a successful campaign last summer that essentially recapitulated the resurrection of organized adult baseball at the turn of the last century, the juices are flowing once again for Philippine Baseball. Top-tier talent across the islands is being seduced to meet world-class standards. No, this is not yesteryear. This is the present.
Build it and they will come.
As unprecedented financial and otherworldly investments flow into the new circuit in a manner unheard of this generation, Baseball Philippines continues its drive towards providing first-rate competition and entertainment.
Safeguarding such fortunes of investment however behooves on field instrumentalities to step up their game if we are to raise Philippine baseball up the ladder’s next rung. Such an adjustment does not happen overnight, but if we can put quality games on the field each time, then we can ensure the next step.
Case in point: during a recent open try-out to fill in team rosters for Series 2, much was left to be desired. Sure, a couple guys did some yard work. One made a spectacular diving stop off a seeing-eye liner back to the mound. Another hurler reached back for that elusive out pitch. But those were practically the only highlights.
In the interim, prospective outfielders took a leisurely stroll towards the fences, while infielders kept the baseball in no-man’s land. Base-runners were like jackrabbits blindly on the loose and double play pivots were a step late. Oddly enough, there was no jostling for on-deck hitters and hardly anyone kept a keen eye on pitchers’ tendencies. Given the nature of the try-out, only a handful played for keeps. Hustle was no more common than a European by the foul line. Not one batter lay down a sacrifice bunt, let alone squared up to bunt; a sign of poor communication or selfish play on the field. That would not happen among our Asian brethren who have eons ago surpassed our level of play behind an unyielding attitude for excellence.
Such observations may be a cultural setback. Nevertheless, attitude will play a significant role towards raising the game’s quality. Physical mistakes can be forgiven, but it is the mental lapses that hurt. Maintaining the proper discipline and approach to the game thus becomes a crucial ingredient for defining success. And with so much at stake in Baseball Philippines, we can ill afford to be overrun by lack of attitude.