Conditional PSC support for baseball

THE PHILIPPINE Sports Commission will support baseball if it undergoes a thorough house-cleaning under a new leadership.

PSC chair Richie Garcia said the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association—headless and direction-less after the recent death of its president—needs to make major changes in its charter and membership so it can hold fresh elections that will include all the sport’s stakeholders.

Garcia, who organized the recent PSC Chairman’s Baseball Classic among the country’s top 16 clubs and schools, said he has already lined up a second conference, to be named Commissioners’ Cup, for next summer.

The idea, he said, is to discover new talents and involve teams who were “excluded” during the 20-year term of the late Paba president Hector Navasero.

“In baseball you have many statistics, and these statistics don’t lie—oftentimes they are accurate,” said Garcia. “From the statistics we got from the Chairman’s Classic, we can have the basis to form a strong national team.”

But Garcia said baseball needs need to shape up before it can join Team Philippines in the Incheon Asian Games next year.

There were reports that Paba had already held an election but failed to get the blessing of the Philippine Olympic Committee, which like the PSC, is batting for a wider membership that will include major clubs and the collegiate leagues.

Aside from being the top baseball country in Southeast Asia, the national clouters are No. 5 in Asia, and No. 23 in the world.

Paba’s national team-powered Philab squad ruled the Chairman’s Classic, where a handful of clouters came up with impressive performances, including league MVP Matthew Laurel of Ateneo.