WHEN Meralco takes on Barangay Ginebra in the 2019 Governors’ Cup Finals, the Bolts are not only eyeing a first-ever PBA championship. The company is also seeking to end a 48-year title drought in basketball.
Unknown to most young basketball fans, Meralco once lorded over the basketball scene in the 1970s in the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (Micaa), the premier league before the PBA was formed in 1975.
Then known as the Reddy Kilowatts or Reddies, Meralco ruled the 1971 Micaa basketball championship when it defeated then-archrival Crispa, 65-58, on July 11, 1971, considered as the last time the company won a major basketball title in the Philippines.
According to the account in the Manila Times by Anthony Exaltado, the Reddies were led by Robert Jaworksi and import Charles Greenfield when they scored seven points in the final two-minute stretch to maintain the lead after the Redmanizers came to within three points, 57-54.
Greenfield’s fellow import Bob Presyley also played big, according to the game account by the Manila Times, where he grabbed 26 rebounds and contained Crispa import Tom Cowart, who was later arrested by police after being charged with rape.
The game began with an 18-7 lead by the Reddies and the Lauro Mumar-coached team never relinquished that advantage until the final buzzer of championship match marred by complaints on the officiating of by Crispa coach Baby Dalupan.
With the win, Meralco, according to the Manila Times report, also ended a long wait for the company as it won its first post-war Micaa crown.
Their first Micaa crown came in 1934, ending a 37-year wait, and the 1971 title came three years after they returned to the Micaa and other major basketball tournaments during that era in the National Open and the Panamin.
The 1971 crown turned out to be the last basketball title for Meralco after the Reddies disbanded due to Martial Law when President Ferdinand Marcos seized the company. The team was later purchased by Komatsu Comets, the predecessor of Toyota where it had a storied rivalry with Crispa in the PBA.
Meralco made its return to the major leagues in 2010 when the team purchased the Sta. Lucia franchise. The Bolts have yet to win a title after suffering defeats to Ginebra in 2016 and 2017 Governors’ Cup Finals.
Will the Bolts end the title drought of the company this time around?
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