RP hosts Pan-Pacific baseball

Some of the best baseball players from 10 countries show their wares in a battle of future superstars when the Philippines hosts the first Pan-Pacific Junior Baseball Championship, which is part of the World Baseball Grand Prix, Aug. 24-30 at the Remy Field of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Rodolfo "Boy" Tingzon Jr., president of the Philippine Tot Baseball Foundation, Inc., yesterday told the PSA Forum at the Holiday Inn that hosting of the multi-nation event is also aimed at helping bring back the glory days of baseball in the country, one-time Asian champion during the infancy of the sport three decades back.

A team from the United States looms as the major contender in the tournament, the biggest to be held this year after the Philippines begged off from hosting the Asian senior baseball championships because of funding problems.

The other foreign teams that have confirmed their participation in the event sanctioned by the World Baseball Federation are Australia, Chinese-Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore.

Tingzon said he is banking on the support of the government and the private sector for the success of the event, which also serves to show the positive side of the Philippines which has been besieged by negative reports abroad.

Competition will be in four divisions -- A for players aged 12 years and below, AA for 15-under, AAA for 18-under and Seniors. The Philippines will field a team only in the AA division where it has a better chance of winning, Tingzon said.

The PTBFI, formed in 1975 and now the biggest youth baseball organization in the country, has been handing out educational scholarships and cross-cultural experiences to less fortunate children through baseball.

"And we’re still here to bring this program to greater heights. Hosting this event is just part of our program," said Tingzon, whose father, Rodolfo Sr., is known as the father of youth baseball in the country.

Aside from SBMA, supporting the forthcoming event are Funtastic Subic, Freeport Services Corp., the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association led by Hector Navasero, and the Philippine Sports Commission under chairman Carlos Tuason.