Mindanaotoday.com | History: My love for baseball and softball
By: RAI Bollozos Sanchez | Historyahe!
HI there!
First, I am sorry I did not write last week. Our university’s annual intramurals kicked off, and I got tangled in coaching men’s softball for the College of Engineering Warriors.
Though we have not won the championship, the opportunity to coach the sport I dearly love to young men was an honor and privilege, and bagging the runner-up is a consolation.
Other than history, the other thing I passionately love is baseball and softball. During college, I played with the varsity, and when I was 22, I started coaching intramural softball.
I love baseball and softball, and even my children are endearingly committed to the sport, leisurely, competitively, and passionately.
Well, it is not about the competitiveness that we became attached to it but the rich history of the sport internationally and its attachment to the Filipinos.
Originally, baseball evolved from a “folk bat and ball,” especially the “rounders game” played in England during the 18th century and brought by the British migrants in colonial North America.
During the mid-19th century, the sport developed to its modern version, and its popularity rose to become America’s favorite past-time.
On the other hand, softball evolved as an indoor version of baseball, originating from Chicago, Illinois, in the later part of the 19th century with a rolled-out boxing glove (as a ball) and broomstick and played barehanded.
The original intent of softball is to keep baseball players in shape during American winters by playing inside the gyms.
In the Philippines, baseball and softball arrived early in the American occupation.
The first baseball game played in the Philippines took place on September 1898, a couple of weeks after the “Mock Battle of Manila” by American soldiers.
After establishing the public education system in the early 1900s, baseball and softball became a method by the American colonial government to assimilate the Filipinos into western culture.
Locally, during the American period in the Philippines, the Department of Public Instruction organized interprovincial athletic meets offering athletics, basketball, and baseball.
The inter-school sporting event competitively played with student-athletes from provincial public schools in the archipelago.
Further, the infamous Manila Carnival’s 1915 indoor baseball women’s champions hailed from the Misamis province.
Again, my passion for baseball and softball is not only about the sport but primarily about its rich history.
Though it may have its colonial origins from Britain to the United States and to the United States to the Philippines, its narrative enabled the Filipinos to compete locally and internationally.
Currently, the Philippines ranked number 40 in the world rankings in men’s and 14th in women’s baseball division. While we ranked 17th in men’s and 15th in women’s softball.
I coached softball for almost 20 years, and baseball and softball are sports that do not require height but rely on mastery of fundamental skills and mental toughness.
For me, this is the sport where our government should invest much of its grassroots investments.
Just a few days from now, with the help of Congressman Rufus B. Rodriguez, we will start a softball clinic for young kids aged 8 to 12 years old.
I hope it will become an annual event and soon develop future Philippine team players in Cagayan de Oro, but I am looking forward to the whole of Region 10. (MT)
(Ryan Albert Ignacius “RAI” Bollozos Sanchez, 40, is a native of Cagayan de Oro City. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and currently finishing his Master of Arts in History at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. He is currently a full-time faculty in the Department of General Education and Interdisciplinary Studies in Xavier Ateneo – teaching Readings in Philippine History, The Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, and Interdisciplinary Studies subjects. He taught part-time at the Liceo de Cagayan University teaching Southeast Asian History and Government, and U.S. Government and Foreign Policy. You may reach him at rsanchez@xu.edu.ph)
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