Marte Saldaña - The Mighty Mite of Philippine basketball

MARTE SALDAÑA – the cerebral Mighty Mite of Philippine basketball

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has produced a bevy of top quality court generals in its 43 years of existence. Some, like Robert Jaworski and Johnny Abarrientos, merited some consideration from NBA scouts. Ricardo Brown himself was a third round (59^th overall) draftee of the Houston Rockets in the 1978 draft but the former Pepperdine star wasn’t able to sign up with the team.

            Coming up with a list of the top point guards in the PBA always poses a nightmare for every writer to have a credible and generally-acceptable list. With an abundance of talents to select from, the list normally extends beyond the maximum ten.

            One under-the-radar PBA legend who may not merit consideration, particularly among younger writers, but is definitely acknowledged by those who have seen him play, is Marte Saldaña. The late broadcaster and anchor, Pinggoy Pengson, gave Saldaña the moniker, “Mighty Mite,” in reference to his ability to flex his muscles and dominate games despite his lack of size and heft. A winner in every level of his playing career, Saldaña is best known as the Rookie of the Year in 1982, besting several other candidates that included Toyota stars Terry Saldaña, Ricky Relosa, Tim Coloso, and Ed Cordero.

Early Life

            Marte Divinagracia Saldaña was born on February 23, 1959 to parents Bartolome of Leyte and Diana of Iloilo. He was raised in Murphy, Cubao in Quezon City and studied at General Camp Emilio Aguinaldo High School located inside Camp Aguinaldo, not surprising since his father was a military man. It was also not uncommon that Marte wanted to join the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) himself, having been exposed to the strict regimen of his father. He transferred to Far Eastern University High School in 1974 after being discovered by then MICAA standout Bert Dela Rosa (later played for YCO/Tanduay in the PBA), enticing Saldaña to join Dennis Roldan, Ed Corpuz and the rest of the Baby Tams. He eventually took up BS-Management at FEU from 1975 to 1981.

The FEU Tamaraws 1976

Start of Something Big

            The diminutive 5’9, 160 lb. Saldaña rose to prominence at a young age of 16 when he was part of the FEU seniors basketball team as a freshman. His teammates included the likes of Renato Lobo (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2018/03/renato-lobo-last-breed-of-pigeon.html),  Anthony Dasalla, Roy Deles, Nic Bulaong, Ben Brillantes and Pablo Javier. He was then a reliever at the point guard position, but in the Finals against the eventual champions, the UE Red Warriors, led by the prolific Emerito Legaspi (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2012/03/emerito-legaspi-from-amateur-superstar.html), he sizzled with 19 points in a losing cause.

            1976 turned out to be the breakout year for the cerebral point guard. He was inserted by his head coach, Arturo Valenzona, to the starting point guard position, playing alongside Danny Manalastas, Armando Valencia, Lobo and Dasalla. From the getgo, the Tamaraws stamped their class and became not just the champions of the UAAP 1976 season, but also, the then prestigious Battle of the Champions tournament featuring the top collegiate schools from other leagues. The Tamaraws upended the NCAA champion Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles that featured Steve Watson, Joy Carpio, Padim Israel, Fritz Gaston, Louie Rabat, Chito Narvasa, among others.

            It was also in 1976 when Saldaña finally started earning on his own, receiving P400 a month to play for the Mohawk Brokerage under Valenzona in the Interclub. He later moved with Valenzona to Solid Mills in the second conference to form a formidable team made up of his FEU teammates Dasalla and Lobo, along with Benjie Chua, Butch Beso, Conrado Pasco, Bernardo Caparas, Valencia and Rey Obias. True enough, the Denim Makers stamped their class, demolishing the Abe King (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/10/abe-king-jr.html) and Emer Legaspi-led Frigidaire in the finals for the crown.

            Frigidaire though was able to exact vengeance the year after, this time at the MICAA tournament, when the Silverio franchise defeated Solid Mills in a close series of the 1977 first conference. In the next conference, Saldaña teamed up with Lobo and Dasalla to give Solid Mills its first MICAA title, defeating the YCO Painters in the finals. By then, this triumvirate, along with their head coach, Valenzona, became fixtures in various national teams.

Saldaña selected as MICAA Mythical 5 member by SWM

National Team stint

Saldaña was part of the victorious 1978 RP Youth team that won the crown in Manila, earning the right to represent Asia to the 1979 World Youth Championships. He was also one of the driving force of the national team that won the 1978 Pesta Sukan tournament. By the end of the year, Saldaña suited up for the national team that played in the Bangkok Asian Games, wounding up 5^th overall.

He also led the RP Youth team in the 1979 World Youth Championships held in Brazil, where he ended up being the team’s second-best scorer (behind Cristobal's 18.7 ppg) and the tournament’s 8^th best with 17.0 points per game. In their game against the powerful Yugoslavian team, Saldaña and teammate Bay Cristobal kept the team’s flickering hopes alive, even leading their European rivals at the end of the first half, 53-48. In the end, the Slavs’ height and firepower proved too much for the fighting Pinoys, eking out a slim 106-102 victory in what could have been a major upset. Saldaña led all scorers with 31 points despite being the smallest guy in the court, backstopped by Cristobal’s 27. Saldaña similarly scattered an impressive 31 points against another mighty Euro team, Italy, losing out 88-71. The Philippines ended up 10th overall (out of 12 teams) in the tournament won by the United States in dominating fashion, winning by an average of 41.57 points against their rivals. Curiously, that US team was made up of future NBA pros James Worthy, Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, Fat Lever, Scott Hastings and Sam Perkins, a testament to the talent and skill level that participated in this tournament.

He was later plucked by Coach Freddie Webb to lead the Philippine charge in the 1979 Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC, now called FIBA-Asia) to be held at Nagoya in Japan. Unfortunately, the team lost to their three main rivals, China, Japan and South Korea and missed out in the medal podium. It was a sorry loss against the Sokors in the elimination round, 118-107, making it difficult for the Filipinos to contend for the crown as they had to face a hostile crowd plus bad officiating from the Japanese on a cold December weather. The Chinese eventually won the crown, beating the eventual runner-up hosts in overtime, 70-68 and the Sokors on the last day, 94-88.

Moving to APCOR

            When business tycoon Herminio T. Disini became actively involved with amateur basketball through the HERDIS Group of Companies, his business empire involved in oil exploration, mining, textile manufacturing and flight chartering, it wasn’t long before he decided to put up his own basketball team. He formed APCOR, his financing company, and named his team the APCOR Financiers. Together with his right-hand guy, Nonoy Toledo, Disini assembled a dominant team and his first step was to lure Valenzona. When they succeeded in acquiring Valenzona as the head coach from Solid Mills, his old FEU and national team wards joined him. Saldaña was perhaps Turing’s first choice as it was critical for him to get the star guard to lead the team. Other big names followed suit: Cristobal, Pasco, Yoyoy Villamin, Ramon Cruz, Padim Israel, Terry Saldaña, Gary Vargas, Zaldy Latoza, Rey Lazaro (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2018/02/chancing-upon-pba-legend.html), Gerry Samlani, Alex Clariño, Alfredo Amador, the Guzman brothers – Joel and Noel, Allan Meimban, Florante Dela Cruz, Rudy Garcia, Joselito Danggoy, Romeo Martina and Rey Ramos. For Saldaña, he had no second thoughts of joining a rookie team – while he was a reluctant superstar who didn’t see himself playing in the pros, the APCOR offer was too lucrative to pass up on.

            Backstopped by a huge budget, it was almost inevitable for the Financiers to become champions. And true enough, in their debut season of 1980, the Financiers started dominating all the amateur tournaments at that time – the MICAA, the National Seniors and the Interclub. By then, Disini was also engaged in a personal rivalry with another Marcos crony, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr. Cojuangco was appointed as the project director for basketball in the midyear of 1980, and immediately took steps to strengthen amateur basketball. Being rivals with Disini, Cojuangco decided to put up a pool of players made up of Americans (Steve Schall, Steve Lingerfelter, Eddie Joe Chavez, Dennis Still, Bob Worthy, David Wear, Jeff Moore), Fil-Americans (Ricardo Brown and Willie Pearson) and homegrown talents culled from other MICAA teams like Frigidaire and YCO and collegiate schools to be coached by Ron Jacobs (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2015/12/coach-ron-jacobs-learning-to-believe.html) from Loyola Marymount. Eventually, Cojuangco had another set of top local players on his side – players like Ricky Relosa, Manny Victorino, Frankie Lim, Itoy Esguerra, JB Yango, Bokyo Lauchengco, Ed Cordero, Teddy Alfarero, John Copada, Elmer Reyes, Louie Brill, and the Pumaren brothers – Derrick and Franz. There was a special tournament when Cojuangco’s American-led NCC national team got to play against APCOR with the Cement Makers flexing its muscle by routing the Financiers.

            By this time, Saldaña suffered a right knee injury that he needed to recuperate and couldn’t play. His loss was a blow to the team’s chances as he was their best player as well as their leader. He was also the one person capable of guarding Hector Calma, then already being groomed by Jacobs to be his court extension. In 1979, Calma, who led the Adamson Falcons to its only UAAP title in 1977, was only a backup point guard to Saldaña at Solid Mills. Nevertheless, with Still, Moore and Brown leading the Cement Makers, APCOR didn’t stand a chance. At that time, Disini was also entertaining the possibility of bringing his entire APCOR team to the PBA as a new franchise. It was bound to be the team of the future as APCOR was able to beat the PBA champs, Crispa, in tune-up games, underscoring their strength and vast potential.

Turning Pro

            Disini eventually left the country and was exiled in Austria after being involved in several cases  including the controversial Dewey Dee caper of 1981. APCOR disbanded and the players were dispersed, most of them turning pro midway into the season. Villamin, Cruz, Cristobal and Israel joined the Crispa Redmanizers, Lazaro and Latoza went to Tanduay, Samlani suited up for U/Tex, Clariño went to Gilbey’s Gin, Vargas with Galleon Shippers, Joel Guzman to Galerie Dominque and twin brother Noel to Great Taste. Saldaña joined the PBA in 1982 along with other rookies like Relosa, Cordero, namesake Terry, Lauchengco and Tim Coloso. Marte went to the San Miguel Beermen under Coach Tommy Manotoc as he was convinced by his former Solid Mills teammate and brother-in-law Obias to join him at SMB. Marte went to the SMC office, then based in Makati, and met with Manotoc who tendered him a 2-year contract right away.

Saldaña donning jersey #7 for the Beermen

            1982 turned out to be a good year for Marte. Running second to Terry in the rookie of the year race (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/10/pba-rookies-during-early-years.html#more), Terry found himself getting disqualified from the ROY race after being involved in a fracas against a South Korean player in the 2^nd conference – called the Asian Invitationals. As such, Marte became the undisputed leader in the rookie stats board, and, strengthened with a championship, a runner-up finish and a 3^rd place finish for the Beermen, won the ROY award. He also was fortunate to play in the Mello Yello All Star series held in Manila and Cebu where he suited up for the North team coached by Robert Jaworski (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/10/robert-jaworski-sr.html). Arnie Tuadles (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/10/arnulfo-arnie-tuadles-jr.html), who scored 50 points in one of those two games, was adjudged All Star MVP. It was a phenomenal recognition for the young Saldaña to be named an All-Star on his rookie year.

PBA Success

            Marte made sure he won’t be suffering from the sophomore jinx syndrome, a situation when players on their second year would suffer a drop in their game or experience an injury. Fortunately, he continued his successful foray in the PBA for the Beermen.

            With Crispa dominant in the 1983 season, Saldaña continued to earn the respect of his teammates and opponents with his cerebral court generalship. One of the more memorable games for that year was when the Beermen snapped Crispa’s 21-game winning streak in the second conference. That run remains a record to date. With Dasalla making Crispa super import Billy Ray Bates lose his temper, import Donnie Ray Koonce scoring at will, Lim Eng Beng (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2016/01/lim-eng-beng-1941-2015.html) playing the veteran role, and Saldaña quarterbacking, the Beermen pulled off a 110-99 shocker on that fateful June 23 playdate. Koonce topscored for the Beermen with 32, with Marte tallying 18 points, 4 boards and 5 dimes in a solid all-around effort.

            Manotoc, who left SMB for Crispa prior to the start of the 1983 season, is credited by Saldaña to have given him the trust and confidence from a PBA coach. He distinctly remembered Manotoc’s advice to study his opponent’s moves, a strategy that Saldaña took to heart and continued applying until the final days of his career. But with Manotoc moving to Crispa, Saldaña had to work with a new coach, Nat Canson, erstwhile head coach of Frigidaire in the MICAA (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/10/micaa.html).

The Quick Brown Fox vs. The Mighty Mite

            It was under Canson that Saldaña intimated having played the best years of his life. From 1983 to 1985, Saldaña flourished under Canson’s tutelage and prodding and where he emerged as one of the top point guards in the league. In 1985, partnering with Norman Black and forming a potent Mutt and Jeff tandem, the two led the Magnolia Ice Cream Makers to the Finals of the Open Conference. They lost to the mighty Great Taste Coffeemakers of Joe Binion and Ricardo Brown but Saldaña acquitted himself well in this tournament, proving to all that he can stand toe to toe versus the Quick Brown Fox, the eventual MVP for the year.

Turning Milkman

As lead point guard of Hills Bros fighting for the loose ball vs. Shell's Totoy Marquez

Saldaña defending Presto import and NBA veteran Tony White

            When the People Power Revolution broke out on February, 1986, San Miguel decided to take a two-conference leave of absence from the PBA. Saldaña, along with SMB teammates Noli Banate and Rudy Distrito, were taken in by new team Alaska. Marte struggled a bit in the onset as his first two coaches, Tony Vasquez and Cesar Jota, weren’t able to maximize his skill set as much as he wanted. Fortunately, in the season after, Alaska hired Canson as head coach, reviving hopes for Saldaña to regain his confidence. When Canson left, the Milkmen hired Valenzona, another coach that Marte was very comfortable with. For nearly two seasons, Saldaña thrived with his coaches, including Bogs Adornado, who took over Valenzona’s job in the third conference of 1988. Everything was still ideal and Marte was confident that he’ll be given a fresh contract by Alaska management.

From Milk to Tivoli

            To Saldaña’s surprise, the verbal commitment given to him by Adornado to renew his contract didn’t come to fruition. The worse part was that the 1989 season was about to begin and Marte would end up clutching an empty bag. Fortunately, it was Bay Cristobal, his national team, Solid Mills and APCOR teammate, and Abe King, his Gold Eagle Beer teammate, who convinced Ignacio Gotao and Presto management to get Marte’s services from free agency. He got himself a roster spot with the Tivoli at the start of the season, sharing point guard chores with Onchie Dela Cruz, Willie Generalao, and Bernie Fabiosa.

            But in the second conference, Saldaña had to undergo an operation for treatment of his left pelvic bone. He returned later and continued to play for the Gokongwei franchise on the very same year when SMB, his old team, won the grandslam. When the season ended, his Presto contract has already expired.

Last PBA Team

            Not many fans would remember Marte being part of the expansion team Pop Cola Sizzlers at the start of the 1990 season. While many would recall Joey Loyzaga, Elmer Reyes, Pido Jarencio and Sonny Cabatu taken from the expansion draft, Saldaña quietly convinced a young Yeng Guiao that he can help provide stability in the backcourt for the RFM franchise. Unfortunately, Saldaña only got to play 4 games for the franchise, paving the way for his retirement at the young but full age of 31. It was an enriching and fulfilling career as Saldaña proved to everyone that he was a winner wherever he went – winning titles with the national team, the PBA, the MICAA, the Interclub, and the collegiate league.

Personal Musings

            Marte Saldaña recounts his PBA career and pays tribute to Ricardo Brown and Francis Arnaiz as the players that he found difficulty to guard. Similarly, he acknowledged Arnaiz for being the best player to defend him. True enough, he had his battles with Mr. Clutch as early as his rookie year when SMB faced Toyota in the Finals of the Reinforced Conference.

            When Saldaña was still playing for FEU and the national team, he donned jersey #7, in honor of his very first idol, Robert Jaworski, Sr. While Jaworski is known to be an extremely physical player capable of bullying guards from other teams, Saldaña chuckled that not once did the Big J display roughness against him. Perhaps it was the mutual respect that they had for each other, starting with the 1982 All-Star games where Jaworski was his coach, that made the Big J think twice. It was also his dream to play for Toyota (http://sportingpage.blogspot.com/2011/11/toyota-1975-1983.html) in the PBA and team up with Jaworski and Arnaiz, something he never got to experience in his career.

            He regards Turing Valenzona as the greatest influence of his playing career. Valenzona was his very first real basketball coach and looks up to him as his second father. For seven years, Saldaña knew of no other coach than Valenzona, starting with FEU and ending at APCOR. His career blossomed under Turo’s tutelage – a common denominator for several FEU players who started learning the game from the former FEU enforcer.

            His biggest dream was to play for Jacobs – especially in the national team. But Saldaña admits that was difficult to happen with the politics involving Cojuangco and Disini, and it was unfortunate that he couldn’t suit up for the national team when Jacobs was running the program. Jacobs, at that time, was also profuse with praises on the young Saldaña, considering him as one of the country’s best point guards alongside Jaworski, Brown and Calma.

Post-Basketball Career

            Marte Saldaña is now based in San Francisco, USA with his wife, the former Emelita Reyes and four children, Mark, Miko, Morris and Matthew. Mark is a nurse based in Boston, Miko and Morris are Respiratory Therapists, and Morris is an accountant. Marte also has one grandchild from Mark and is expecting two more on September, 2018 and January, 2019.

His classic set shot 25 years after

            He now works as a Deck Hand offering labor services to a shipping company based in San Francisco. Previously, Marte was an Operations Manager for LBC International, a Filipino-owned logistics company with office locations all over the world. He and his wife also own a caregiver services manpower company that provides caregivers to various institutions all over the United States.

Blogger’s Views

The blogger with the Mighty Mite at Westin Hotel Union Square

            From previous articles in this blog site, this blogger has professed his admiration to FEU and their basketball products, most especially from the 70’s. When Saldaña joined forces with Lobo and Dasalla at FEU, it didn’t take long for this writer to gravitate towards the Tamaraws. Saldaña eventually became his favorite amateur point guard, while cheering for his teams in the amateur ranks – first with Solid Mills, and later, with APCOR.

            This blogger went to the West Coast last May. Because of the blogger’s association with Renato Lobo from a previous article, the latter was able to convince Saldaña to have his profile done. Saldaña and this blogger met at the Westin Hotel in Union Square where the blogger was staying in his 3-day visit at the city. It was a casual moment as Saldaña turned out to be as warm, friendly and pleasant as described by Lobo. It wasn’t difficult to make him open up, albeit, there were some tidbits that are best kept and not written anymore. The two spoke for more than 3 hours and could’ve been longer had it not for prior commitments of both parties.

Marte, seated in the middle, with other PBA legends and stars

            Saldaña’s poise and grace under pressure was probably his greatest asset as a player. Although he’s known for a lot of things – his cerebral quarterbacking, his adept ballhandling skills, his pinpoint accuracy from beyond the range, Marte was clutch personified. He has done this several times particularly for FEU, Solid Mills, APCOR and SMB. Abe King, the franchise player of SMB in 1984, refers to Saldaña as his favorite court general of all time. Lobo is awed by his court vision and generalship, twin facets that not all point guards of his time possessed. Many remembered him as a John Stockton play-alike, not flashy but gets the job done with nifty passes and timely outside sniping.

            This blogger has always been a fan of Saldaña since his FEU days. But after the opportunity of meeting up and knowing the Mighty Mite, he looks up to him far greater from his storied playing career. Marte Saldaña, the unassuming and humble person that he is, has become a larger than life person.