New baseball chief starts swinging, eyes Japanese model

The newly-elected president of the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) buckled down to work, saying that Filipinos can imitate the success of the world super power Japan if there will be teamwork, discipline and relentless effort.

In an intimate dinner with DAILY TRIBUNE, Rodolfo “Boy” Tingzon Jr. bared that they will work hard to bring back the glory of baseball, which used to be the country’s national pastime but had already been overtaken by basketball, football and volleyball in terms of popularity and international success.

In fact, Tingzon huddled with players, coaches and other officials of the national team at the Century Park on Monday afternoon to inform them of his vision and solicit their support for the new administration.

“Our meeting was meant to tell them that there is a new management,” said the 69-year-old Tingzon, who had taken over from Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga last month.

Joining him in the PABA executive board are Armando de Castro as vice president, Michael Benedict Asuncion as secretary general, and Raymond Tolentino as treasurer.

Rounding out the PABA board are Ma. Fiorella D. R. Fabella, Rhoy Landicho, John Benito Rabat, Luis Miguel Zuluaga and Mike Zialcita.

“This new management has a new vision which we wanted to share with them and hopefully they would agree and take it into their hands, take it seriously, and move forward towards the goal.”

He said Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei are considered as the world’s best and it will not be impossible for the Filipinos to rise to greatness if they will copy the model of the world No. 1 Japanese.

“Why can’t we give the Japanese system a chance? Because of the Japanese system, the secret there are basics,” he said, adding that the likes of Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shota Inamaga of the Chicago Cubs have been taking Major League Baseball by storm.

“Who followed the Japanese system? Chinese Taipei, Korea, and now China is already following it.”

Tingzon is deeply ingrained in Philippine baseball.

His father, Rodolfo “Totoy” Tingzon Sr. is considered as the “father of youth baseball in the Philippines” after founding the Little League Baseball Association of the Philippines, an organization that gives young boys from various provinces a chance to represent the country in the international competitions.

Eventually, he left the Little League and formed the Philippine Tot Baseball Association and applied for membership in the Protect Our Nation’s Youth (PONY) movement of the United States.

Now, the younger Tingzon is the Asian president of PONY and served as a board member during the Loyzaga administration.

“We’ll be going around the country and establish training hubs in key provinces,” said Tingzon, whose grandfather Don Julio Tingzon co-founded the Canlubang Sugar Barons and guided the national team to countless international honors, including the First Baseball Federation of Asia title in 1954 and the defunct Far Eastern Games crowns from 1913 to 1934.

“Filipinos are really good at baseball. All we need is teamwork and a lot of faith in the system.”