The City of Philadelphia went wild last night. The Phillies (Philadelphia) beat Dodgers (Los Angeles) 10-4, to win the National League Championship and return to the World Series for a rare chance to win the World Series back to back. Last year, they beat Tampa Bay and they are the only other team to win the National League back to back like what the Cincinnati Reds did in 1975-76. New York Yankees would win the title three consecutive times from 1998 to 2000.

Here’s Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard practicing Rumba for Dancing with the Stars celebrating after a three home run.

Last night, a friend asked me a question if there is baseball in the Philippines. I could feel the cold draft beer ran down my throat like one burning jalapeno pepper. I didn’t even realized that there were a number of Asians in the ballgame.

Here’s Chan Ho Park. Born Jun 30, 1973 in Kong Ju City and went to Hanyang University in South Korea.

And here’s Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda of Japan.

And here’s Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo from Tainan City, Taiwan.

Just like any other kid, I used to play this game when I was little. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a Filipino in any of those uniforms as a player? We are the 12th most populous country in the world, with an estimated population of about 92 million people and counting, and yet, we could not produce one (1) baseball player at a world class level. More beers. 7th inning… I should be happy the Phillies were winning, but for a moment there, I was as dejected as this Los Angeles Dodgers.

What came into my mind was this… August 29, 1992, The Little League Baseball World Series with the Far East team from Zamboanga City, Philippines beating out the team from Long Beach, California in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Filipinos all over the United States went wild. I was truly, truly proud that day.

But that feeling of victory and proud Filipino moments would not stay long.

“A few days after Zamboanga City’s triumphant victory, however, journalist Al Mendoza of the Philippine Daily Inquirer began publishing stories suggesting that some players were ineligible. Local administrator Armando Andaya was faxed four questions from Creighton Hale, Little League president, regarding player ages, birth certificates, residence, and a specific question regarding winning championship game pitcher Ian Tolentino’s participation in a tournament in 1990 (possibly with the view of suggesting this would have made him over-age). Andaya admitted to violating rules on district representation – eight players were from outside the Zamboanga City area, some as far away as Luzon, and unable to speak Chabacano, the language most commonly spoken in Zamboanga. Andaya claimed that the 8 players replaced, for various reasons, were unable to go to China for the Far East series and that the out-of-district substitutes were only used to make up numbers rather than to give the team an extra edge over their opponents.“(Source: Wikipedia)

Result?

“Little League Baseball stripped Zamboanga City of its title, declaring the championship game a 6-0 forfeit, and awarded the championship to Long Beach. The exposed players and parents remained defiant, and accused Little League Baseball of denying them due process.“(Source: Wikipedia)

I would not hear any more Filipino team since then. Nor will I ever see a Filipino wearing any of these uniforms I am seeing at the Citizens Bank Arena in Philadelphia. This is one area where there won’t be any Overseas Filipino Worker. That stigma seemed to have forever stucked, that in baseball, Filipinos are cheats. As always, the rest of us suffer the brunt. When jokes and banters erupts? I just tell them I’m Cambodian, Indonesian or Japanese. After all, how many times have I been mistaken as Japanese at Temple University?

It’s been 17 years now since that deceit happened, but I still remember the feeling of pride and then… shame.

But in a country where cheating is like an everyday thing…

And being a crook or an ex-convict is ok…

Get high, they’ll set you free for the right fee…

In fact, you could find them from left to comelec…

Tall and short…

SEO?! Like trojan horse, they’re not exempt…

Teacher and student bloggers will even teach you that…

I should get used to this.

But all I know is that we need a new leader.

To reverse all these insane dysfunctionalities.

Because I refuse to accept that there truly is something wrong with Filipinos DNA.

Or is there?!

Photo Credits: Yahoo and Philly dot com
Read: Field Of Schemes

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