Another Filipino-American is ready to represent the country on the diamond.
And unlike his predecessors, this player has been able to be in a World Series.
Game Five of the 2002 World Series is best remembered when a three-year-old batboy collected Kenny Lofton’s bat after a triple despite the ball being in play. Luckily for that kid, JT Snow had the wits to pick up the young boy and avoid a disaster.
That was the son of then-San Francisco manager Dusty Baker, Darren. Darren is the Fil-Am interested to suit up for the Philippines.
Darren, now 21 and playing for UC-Berkeley, is born to a Filipina mother in Melissa.
“The mother was the one who sent an e-mail asking if her son could join the team. And I said, ‘Can you please submit a background about him’,” Philippine Amateur Baseball Association secretary-general Pepe Munoz shared during Tuesday’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum, which is powered by SMART, has Upstream Media as webcast partner, and is backed by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“She sent a whole library of videos showing her son playing! And it turned out to be the son of the manager of the Houston Astros [Dusty].”
Darren is currently in his final year with the Golden Bears, opting to return to the school after being drafted as the 823rd pick in the 2017 MLB Draft by Washington — the team Dusty managed then.
It is still unknown when the Philippine Men’s National Baseball Team’s next tournament is.
But unlike Chris Aguila, the d’Arnaud brothers, and even the legendary Bobby Balcena, this Fil-Am has been on the World Series.
“That was my joke with the mother. The Philippines needs players with World Series experience. Your son will give us that,” quipped Munoz.
