Birthday Greetings to Joel Santos ( Dec 19 )

JOEL SANTOS Born December 19, 1963 Davao City 6-3, 195 lbs. Forward Played for Presto in the Open and All-Filipino Conferences... However, with the arrival of big men Man- ny Victorino, Zaldy Realu- bit and Hernani Demegillo, Joel saw himself riding the bench most of the time.... In 13 games with Presto, the 6-3 frontliner normed 1.8 ppg. He then moved to Alaska hoping he'd get a lot more playing time... But he didn't... The Cotabato City native was sent in for a total of 97 minutes in 12 games as a Milkman, aver- aging 1.2 points an outing ... No, he isn't always dozing off, he just appears like he is, even on court... Has a hard time keeping pace with the other big men in the league.

The Sophomore pro Joel Santos is calling it quits. The 6-3 center resigned from the Alaska team last week to join his brother who operates the family's bustling seafood ex- port company in General Santos City.
Santos, 26, was recently signed to a 30- day contract by Alaska and had to survive coach Tom Cone's tryouts to be guaranteed a full season's pay. Only four players were inked to month-long pacts by Cone as a way to make sure they are at least compensated during the Alaska camp. They were David Zamar, Romy Ang, Loreto (Pops) Manaog. and Santos. It was a sudden decision made by San- tos to retire from pro basketball. Cone said at least two clubs were interested in giving Santos tryouts. But the war of attrition proba- bly got the measure of the youthful front- liner. In 1988, Santos broke into the PBA with the Gokongweifranchise, hitting at a 3.6 clip with a single-game high of only 12 points. He moved to Alaska as a free agent last season, averaging 1.2 points in 12 games.