It's never over 'til the last out
Subtleties of the game never cease to amaze
Among the most important aspects of a baseball game is that it is an open-ended event, controlled by the contingency of events rather than by the clock. Therein lies the essence of what makes baseball such an intriguing game.
What's more, as one sifts through endless game data from Baseball Philippines, a plethora of events reveals several interesting perspectives into the games themselves.
Take an April 13 slugfest between the Dumaguete Uni-bikers and Forward Taguig Patriots. While the Uni-bikers won by a 13-12 margin, it should be worth noting that Dumaguete scored all 13 of its runs after two men were out in five consecutive innings from the second thru the sixth frames. Mind you, this was a rare offensive outburst for the Patriots so for them to lose in this manner — their seventh straight setback at the time dating back to last season — must be quite heart-breaking if not embarrassing. The last time something like this happened, it may have never happened at all, not even in the Major Leagues.
Karma also plays a prominent role in the game. In a Series 2 game last year between the Manila Sharks and the Forward Taguig, what would go down as the greatest regular season game in BP to date was determined by a stroke of karma in the ninth inning.
Taguig was nursing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth when first baseman Alejandro Velasquez obscenely detested umpire Olan Arceo's judgement call on a teammate's dropped pop-fly with a runner on first leading to the veteran's ejection from the game. That prompted Taguig manager Dennis Daep to shuffle his fielders while bringing in the relatively inexperienced Michael Solis to play right field.
One out later, Manila's Larry Icban would loft a fly ball to right field which Solis would drop on the run to put runners at the corners. After the next batter went down swinging on what should have been the third out, Marvin Malig roped a game-tying single. The Sharks would then win the game on Virgilio Roxas' walk-off homerun in the tenth inning.
All-Star right-hander Charlie Labrador of the Manila Sharks has owned the Cebu Dolphins in the regular season. (Photo - Joseph Ventura)
Manila's Charlie Labrador — the nation's top right-hander hurler — would make a case of having the Cebu Dolphins' number; in the regular season at least. Labrador improved to 3-0 against Cebu behind the Sharks's 10-3 whipping of the Dolphins in April. In 29.2 innings pitched thus far against the Blue Sky Machine, Labrador has given up just nine runs — five earned — while striking out 22 and walked only four batters.
Ironically, Labrador was zapped in two postseason starts against the same Dolphins team in Series 2 last year. Manila had won nine straight games, including four extra-inning matches, heading into the BP Series Championship in December when it dropped two of three to Cebu; Labrador was hardly a factor in that series.
Speaking of the Dolphins, their Series 2 clinching win against the Sharks in December saw them build an 18-1 lead thru the middle of the sixth inning. It was the biggest margin at any given point in a game last year. The Batangas Bulls did them one better after walloping its Series 3 co-expansion Antipolo Pilgrims 19-0 on June 15.
Streaks, ironic ones at that, have also defined the game. The Batangas Bulls looked anything but an expansion team after opening their Series 3 campaign 3-4. Since then the Bulls have gone on a rampage, scoring in double digits each time during a five-game winning streak that included three shutouts and a berth into the second round of the playoffs.
The Sharks however claim the current season's longest winning streak — a seven-game run to start the campaign. Manila also owns the league's longest winning streak at nine games which it accomplished in 2007 Series 2.
Ironically, the league's longest losing streak also stands at nine games; it took the Makati Mariners more than two months before they held off the Uni-bikers on June 15 for their only win of Series 3. Naturally, the second longest losing streak to date stands at seven games, owned by the Patriots; Taguig lost its last four games last year and opened Series 3 by losing its first three.
Comebacks are likewise a staple in baseball. The Dolphins have been on both ends of the spectrum. On what would eventually be a split-day game on June 8, Cebu led 8-0 before the Uni-bikers rallied to tie the score in the eighth inning to post an adjournment in the first place. Upon resumption of the contest four weeks later, however, after Dumaguete took a one-run lead in the tenth, the Dolphins rallied for two runs in wild walk-off fashion in the bottom of the inning. In between, Cebu staged a late inning comeback on June 28, rallying from seven runs down in the sixth inning to shock Forward Taguig, 13-7.
Virgilio Roxas of the Batagas Bulls' is the all-time home run leader in BP's young history with eight long balls. (Photo - Joseph Ventura)
Offensive firepower in BP has suddenly become a common occurence while overall pitching has taken a beating. In the Series 3 regular season alone, teams have scored in double digits 24 times (in 78 opportunities). Batangas leads the way with seven such games in which it scored ten or more runs. The Bulls' 110 runs scored are tops in Series 3, an average of 9.2 runs per game.
In 2007, runs did not come as easy. There were only eleven such games (in 104 chances) between Series 1 and 2, three of which came on Opening Day and none of which had two teams reach double figures in the same game. Naturally, it has happened twice thus far in Series 3 when Dumaguete and Taguig combined for 25 runs in that April game earlier, while Makati and Antipolo split 32 runs between them in a tie game on June 29.
As far as individual sluggers are concerned, the long ball has always been the biggest thrill in the game. Batangas' Vio Roxas (5), Cebu's Miggy Corcuera (4), and Dumaguete's Kelly Culubong (4) have combined to club 13 home runs between them. On the aggregate, players have belted 38 home runs in Series 3. There were a total of 15 home runs hit in all of 2007.
Roxas is BP's all-time homerun leader with eight four-baggers to his credit. The distinction of mulit-homer games however goes to Taguig's Ric Jimenez and Cebu's Miggy Corcuera. Both launched a pair of rockets in separate games on the same day May 11. It hasn't happened in BP before or since.
Baseball's definitely been great. Continuing to pour on the games will only unveil more wonder. Until next time.
Sali Ka! Sali Tayo!