MANILA, Philippines - Dynasties did not end with the long Crispa-Toyota rivalry that spanned 20 years. Right after they vanished into the footnotes of history, San Miguel Beer and Alaska Milk took over and crept towards the limelight, distinguishing themselves as a cut above the commonplace with rare grand slam championships that highlighted their long and proud reign at the end of the fabled Crispa-Toyota era.
The Beermen highlighted their rule with a season sweep in 1989 after their return from a brief leave of absence, bringing the core of the NCC team later joined in by MVP winners Ramon Fernandez and Ricky Brown to form what’s easily one of the most formidable PBA teams of all time.
The Aces essayed their own Triple Crown seven years later after coach Tim Cone put together a potent mix of players who thrived on the “triangle offense.”
Coach Norman Black and his SMB team remained highly competitive through the mid-90s, winning the 1994 PBA All-Filipino Cup championship that became their ticket to representing the country in the Hiroshima Asian Games later that year.
“I felt that was the most complete team I was a part of, most complete as far as talents are concerned,” said Fernandez of the ‘89 grand slam team that also featured fellow future Hall of Famers Samboy Lim, Hector Calma and Ato Agustin.
“As I stood there after the final horn and realized that we had won the championship, I realized how blessed and fortunate I was to be part of PBA history that would never be erased or forgotten,” said Ricardo Brown in a Facebook message to The STAR.
“Having won six previous championships, including four straight with Great Taste but not a grand slam, it started to hit me that this was something very special,” added Brown, the PBA scoring champ from 1985-87 who is now a school principal in California.
Brown had significant contributions helping SMB complete the slam in his return from a life-threatening heart ailment that itself would be the reason of his retirement the following season.
For Alaska owner Wilfred Uytengsu, theirs was about a journey.
“We started with a group of individual players that learned to work as a team and trust one another. We won a title in 1994, then two in 1995 and finally all three in 1996. Our players overachieved and proved that character is a more important trait than talent,” said Uytengsu.