If you rip Rodolfo “Boy” Tingzon’s chest wide open, you will see a baseball pumping like a machine.
Yes, Tingzon has been so deeply entrenched in Philippine baseball that it didn’t come as a surprise when stakeholders elected him to lead the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) last February.
He replaced Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga, a giant of Philippine sports being a former athlete, former Philippine Sports Commission commissioner and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) executive council member.
Loyzaga, however, lost to incumbent Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino in the POC elections last November, paving the way for him to step down as PABA chief and endorse the most seasoned among his board members — Tingzon — to become his successor.
Aside from Tingzon, also given fresh mandate in PABA were Armando de Castro as vice president, Michael Benedict Asuncion as secretary general and Raymond Tolentino as treasurer with Ely Baradas as chairman emeritus and Ma. Fiorella D. R. Fabella, Pepe Muñoz, Rhoy Landicho, John Benito Rabat, Luis Miguel Zuluaga and Mike Zialcita as members of the board.
Tingzon said his election came as a surprise.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Tingzon in an intimate dinner with DAILY TRIBUNE on a balmy Monday night.
“I realize that I cannot afford to fail. Since I ran unopposed, I know that all eyes are on me. I have to do my best to give back the trust they pinned on me. And that added to the pressure that I’m feeling right now.”
The 69-year-old Tingzon said he was already content with his role as executive board member when the opportunity of leading the sport that had been so good to him and his predecessors came knocking.
“I will do it for the love of the game. Baseball has been my life,” said Tingzon, also a former realtor who is married to Daisy with six children Christopher, Kristine Michelle, Katherine Anne, Carl, Kamille and Calvin.
Tingzon owes his life to baseball.
His grandfather, Don Julio Tingzon, emerged a star player of the time before he co-founded the Canlubang Sugar Estate Sugar Barons. He also became a national team mentor and guided the national team to countless international competitions, including the First Baseball Federation of Asian won by the Philippines in 1954 and the now-defunct Far Eastern Games from 1913 to 1934.
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 various international competitions.
Totoy entered politics and became the vice governor of Laguna from 1980 to1986 and then congressman of the 2nd District of the province from 1990 to 1993.
Eventually, he left the Little League and formed the Philippine Tot Baseball Association and applied for membership in the Pennsylvania-based Protect Our Nation’s Youth (PONY) movement of the United States.
Now, the younger Tingzon is the Asian president of PONY, which has more than one million participants in its annual program for athletes ranging from four to 23 years old.
“Baseball,” the 69-year-old Tingzon said when asked what keeps him going.
“Our family has been involved in baseball for more than a century. Actually, my grandfather was a former national team member then my father, Totoy Tingzon, used the sport as a tool to help the underprivileged kids. Now, I am here to continue the legacy that they started.”
Tingzon said becoming the president of PABA has been surreal.
“Actually, it was a full-circle moment for me,” he added.
“Who would have thought that the grandson of a national team player would soon become the president of the federation? That’s why I have to do everything I can to uplift Philippine baseball. This is not just professional — this is personal. I have to do it for the legacy of my grandfather and my father.”
Tingzon stressed that he is always ready to make a perfect pitch.
In fact, when Loyzaga was elected as PABA chief in 2019, he and his childhood friend, Pepe Muñoz, who was then the secretary general of the federation, decided to work closely together. He said he cooperated with Loyzaga while he was PABA president to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“I followed everything he wanted, his approach. I wanted to be a good team member so whatever he wanted there was nothing in our relationship that we didn’t know,” Tingzon said.
This team-first philosophy is something he wants to instill in the national baseball team and emulate what Japan — a powerhouse in international baseball — is currently doing.
“Why can’t we give the Japanese system a chance? Because of the Japanese system, the secret there is the basics,” Tingzon said.
“I want to make it good. You cannot please everyone but at least you made the needle move. Because right now our needle is moving very slowly, Baseball is so unique that you have your own roles to play to help the team. We have our roles to play in baseball and in society.”
“That’s how deep it is.”
“You’re all equal. So therefore, you should be good in one thing, in your position, to help the team.”
Tingzon hit the ground running. Barely weeks into his new role, he immediately held an open forum with members of the national team at the Century Park Hotel last week.
Tingzon was surprised to see the reaction from the players since it was the first time they got to express their concerns.
“This is the first time they experience an open forum. Sometimes they get angry, which is okay in a way. That way we get to know them better,” he said.
Another thing PABA is aiming for is to have multiple strength and conditioning coaches as Tingzon knows that it would help the players get faster throws and perform better in international tournaments.
“There are requests from players for conditioning coaches, but it’s specific because their conditioning coaches when they play, they are for an overall conditioning of the body,” Tingzon said.
“We wanted it to be a scientific approach and focus on specific muscle groups depending on the player.”
Tingzon said he doesn’t want to just simply overhaul the national teams’ tactics but to have a change in mindset to better serve themselves and the country.
“For me, it’s just the mentality because we cannot change the strategies in a year or so,” said Tingzon, citing that South Korea and Taiwan also successfully adopted the Japanese’s team philosophy and made them into baseball powerhouses.
“That is the first step, the approach. How to look at the game and how you look at the team. That’s all.”
Tingzon admitted that time is not on his side as he wants to step down after one term in power.
By then, Filipino batters should come out swinging in the international arena. It may not be easy but it will definitely be a perfect home run.