This Day in PBA History: Crispa wins last PBA title by beating Gilbey’s Gin

For a team that is so used to winning, the Crispa Redmanizers and their legions of fans celebrated this moment 38 years ago, July 17, 1984, the last time the franchise won a PBA championship.

The Redmanizers blasted the Gilbey’s Gin Tonics in Game 5 of their best-of-seven All-Filipino championships series, 134-118, for their 13th league championship.

Facing Gilbey’s Gin is like facing its old nemesis for Crispa as familiar faces bolstered the Gin Tonics – former Toyota stars Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz and rising star Terry Saldana – but in Game 5, The Big J was sidelined by an injury.

Crispa didn’t take any chances as Abet Guidaben and Atoy Co conspired in the Redmanizers’ early breakaway, 34-17. They were never seriously threatened from there as even Philip Cezar and later on, Yoyoy Villamin, joined in the fray as Narciso Bernardo won his first and only PBA championship.

Then serving as an assistant coach to Tommy Manotoc, Bernardo took over from the latter when he resigned due to health reasons.

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But Manotoc resurfaced later on and assumed a bigger role as deputy commissioner of the PBA.

Crispa relished the moment of winning this championship, its fourth straight in the last four conferences. A year earlier, the team made history by winning its second grand slam, a record that remained unmatched even up to this time.

But prior to the start of the 1984 PBA season, Crispa’s archrival, Toyota, disbanded as the players were dispersed to different teams.

The Redmanizers were wondering if they would follow their rivals to the PBA exit door as the 1984 season brought so many uncertainties, one of the biggest factors was the economic pinch being experienced by the entire country.

“Kaya nung All-Filipino, ang sabi sa amin ni Boss (Danny), ‘kunin na natin ito kasi record natin ito’. May mga nadidinig na kami na aalis na kami, pero hindi kami sigurado,” said guard Bernie Fabiosa. “Pero alam mo naman ang tsismis. Pero wala kang magawa, parang nangyari sa Toyota.”

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Crispa didn’t make the championship round the next conference, but made its way back to the finals of the Third Conference, but lost to Great Taste in five games.

Co shared Fabiosa’s sentiments.

“Naiisip ko rin yun, yung nag-disband yung Toyota, baka kami yung susunod,” added Co. “At the back of our mind, parang doon na kami papunta.”

For the Crispa diehards, this is the last time to cherish being a champion and they’re used to seeing the green and white of the Redmanizers being the most dominant colors in the first seasons of the PBA.

Several months later, Crispa also disbanded as the players were dispersed to different teams.