Bai Elorde and Tim Lincecum will be making their debuts in a bigger stage on separate occasions. One thing is for certain, Filipinos will be watching these guys intently as they will start their climb to greatness.

By: Geoff Latayan

Juan Martin Elorde and Timothy Leroy Asis Lincecum will be making their debuts in the big stage in separate occasions and both of them will be viewed by Filipinos who liked boxing and baseball.

Elorde, who is the grandson of boxing great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, will have his debut fight in US soil as an appetizer for the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito clash in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 13 (Nov. 14, Manila). The 25 year old will clash with Angel Rodriguez (4 wins-4 losses-1 draw and 4 by knockouts).

Excitement is written all over Bai, who is undefeated in 11 fights (4 of them by knockout), as he prepares for his upcoming fight but there’s a little pressure on him as he carries the ever-famous Elorde bloodline and a lot of people is expecting him to perform impressively.

That is why he is working doubly hard especially in power and stamina in preparing for the fight. As of the moment, he is training in the Philippines and come Oct. 23 he and his entourage will fly to the United States and train alongside Manny Pacquiao in the world famous Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach.

According to this BS Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management graduate of De La Salle College of St. Benilde, this fight would serve as a test to prove that he can also make it to the world stage and be successful as his grandfather. The young Elorde would also want to make his family and countrymen proud in his upcoming fight.

So this fight will be the start of something big for Bai Elorde.

On the other hand, Fil-American Timothy Leroy Asis Lincecum would be making his National League Championship series debut for the San Francisco Giants. He would be going up against Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday (Sunday, Manila time). The matchup will kick off the NLCS a day after the ALCS kicked off with their own best of seven battle between Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees.

We would be seeing the shaggy-haired pitcher do his “awkward” pitching delivery and his skinny-figure that could be mistaken for an ordinary batboy. We would be watching him intently as he go head-to-head with fellow pitching ace Halladay.

But before Lincecum takes the mound, let’s look at his lone National League Division Series game against heavy-hitting Atlanta Braves.

The Freak was all business in his first playoff game. And he proved that despite he is just 5’11,” he is one giant of a Franchise.

The shaggy-haired Lincecum fanned 14 batters to lead the San Francisco Giants in two-hitting the Atlanta Braves, 1-0 and take the first game of the best of five divisional series at San Francisco.

Lincecum, the back-to-back and reigning National League Cy Young awardee, became the 12th pitcher in postseason history to record at least 14 strikeouts in one game.

Lincecum’s whiffing party came after a day when Philadelphia Phillies’ and leading NL Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter against Cincinnati Reds.

The former University of Washington standout, whose mother Rebecca Asis is a daughter of Filipino immigrants, struck out Derrek Lee for the third time to complete the two hour, 26 minute masterpiece.

The last pitcher who whiffed at least 14 batters in the postseason was Roger Clemens in 2000 while playing for the New York Yankees. Clemens whiffed 15 Seattle Mariners in the AL Championship Series.

Fast forward to the ALCS game against the Phillies, Lincecum will be facing one of the most powerful-hitting team in baseball today. Lincecum’s team will be underdogs as the Phillies are the defending back-to-back National League champions going for a three-peat this year. His pitching control will be the key here as the Phillies are dangerous when they are at bat. His fastball and changeup – and the rarely used slider – will be the weapon of choice for Lincecum in this series.

We would be watching two Filipinos scale the mountain of greatness and we hope that their climb would end up at the echelon of success.