FORMER Major League Baseball scout Vincent Sagisi Jr. was fulfilling a vow to his late father, Vincent Sr., when he took on the job as the head coach of the national men’s baseball squad last June.
“When I became the first Filipino-American Major League scout in 1999, my dad, who passed away of heart attack in 2003, made me promise that I owed it to the Filipino people to come back here, somehow, some way to give back to the local baseball community,” Sagisi said.
“It is an honor for me to honor my father’s wish although he wasn’t able to see this go through,” said the coach, who was born in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur and will call the shots for the Pinoy sluggers in the East Asia Cup opening on Oct. 29 at the Clark International Sports Complex in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
A former MLB scout for the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians), Sagisi revealed that he would have been a member of the national coaching staff for the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2020 had not the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“I was the recruiting coordinator for the likes of Tim Tebow and the D’Arnaud brothers (Chase and Travis), who had Filipino heritage, for the team but unfortunately the pandemic struck,” he recalled.
Known as “Dok” Vince in MLB circles, Sagisi said he never forgot his late father’s aspiration for him to help Philippine baseball, and the opportunity finally came in 2023 through an invitation by Philippine Amateur Baseball Association officials Oscar Martelino and Pepe Munoz.
“They led me in talking to PABA president Chito Loyzaga, who offered me to become the PABA director of baseball operations, so I took it,” said Sagisi, who decided then and there to return to his motherland.
“Although I grew up mostly in the US, I am still a Filipino at heart. This is a life mission and a life goal. I decided to move here permanently as long as they have me,” the coach said, his eyes twinkling.
He was obviously thrilled when longtime national coach Orly Vinarao decided to step down and focus his attention full-time on the multi-titled UAAP baseball champion Adamson Falcons, paving the way for his assumption as coach of the national squad.
“I am absolutely thrilled and excited by this opportunity,” said Sagisi, who aims to draw from his vast experience as a Major League Baseball scout in transforming the Nationals into a force to reckon with in Asia, at par with baseball powers Japan, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei.
A major priority is boosting the squad’s offensive clout so that it can compete with Asia’s big boys.
“I have instilled a more American-style or an American approach where we have our hitters hit. We believe in our players and our system. We play an exciting kind of baseball,” Sagisi stressed.
How formidable the present team is could be seen in their recent tune-up series with the Singapore national baseball side, according to Sagisi.
His charges whipped the visitors by scores of 18-0, 11-1, 7-3, 7-0, making them an offensive juggernaut in the coming East Asia Cup, a qualifying competition for the 2025 Asian Baseball Championship in Japan.
“I believe we can be nine-man deep in our offensive rotation when other teams have three to four players who can hit then taper off. Everybody on my team can hit,” said the baseball tactician, citing pitcher-slugger Clarence Caasalan and shortstop Agon de Vera among those to watch out for.
“Caasalan is our Shohei Otani while I believe De Vera now ranks among the best fielding shortstops in Asia,” he noted.
While acknowledging that basketball remains the No. 1 passion of Filipino sports fans, Sagisisi was hopeful that “if baseball can be a kind of sister to it, that’s fine with me. Hey, why not? It’s a start.”
The step in that direction begins when the Pinoy sluggers open their campaign against Indonesia in Group B at the Clark International Sports Complex ballpark on Oct. 29.
