Alumni Series: Ricky Relosa
Ricky Relosa: 1x PBA champion, 1x 1986 Most Improved Player, 1x Mythical Second Team 1987, 3x PBA All-Defensive Team – 1986, 1987, 1988
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Ricky Relosa (1x PBA champion, 1x 1986 Most Improved Player, 1x Mythical Second Team 1987, 3x PBA All-Defensive Team – 1986, 1987, 1988)
Another young, yet, seasoned player who joined Toyota in the 1982 season was Ricky Relosa. After honing his skills in the MICAA starting 1976 with Toyota’s farm team, Frigidaire / MAN Diesel, Relosa became part of the original NCC Training Team of Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. He joined the team that won the 1981 William Jones Cup in Taiwan, and later, was selected to be part of the gold medal-winning national team in the 1981 Manila SEA Games. By the time he joined Toyota in 1982 along with other top rooks Ed Cordero, Terry Saldaña and Tim Coloso, many already knew Relosa was ripe for the pros. He proved them right and gave the then Super Corollas an even more imposing post presence, backstopping Fernandez and King.
But Relosa continued to grow as a player. He joined Fernandez at Beer Hausen as part of the Toyota sale, but went to Jaworski at Ginebra the season after when the Big J became head coach. It was his eventual transfer to expansion team Alaska that earned for him his first two individual awards – the 1986 Most Improved Player Award and inclusion in the All-Defensive Team. When Manila Beer disbanded prior to the start of the 1987 season, Yoyoy Villamin was taken in by the Uytengsu franchise and formed a menacing frontline with Relosa called The Bruise Brothers (the name coming from the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs in the early 80’s). It didn’t come as a surprise that the two would be included once more in the 1987 All-Defensive Team as Hills Bros suddenly became a championship contender because of them. Relosa’s reliable perimeter jumper was a given but he stood out on the defensive side, particularly in the post as he was assigned to guard the top imports back then (Bates, Black, Young, Wise, Parks, Chambers, etc.). While he won two titles with Toyota, he finally collared one championship with Formula Shell in the 1992 First Conference when they demolished the San Miguel Beermen, 4-1. He ended his PBA stint with Shell, retiring at the end of the 1993 season.
