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Orlando “Orly” Bauzon, an Olympian and one of the pioneering players for the legendary Toyota franchise at MICAA and PBA, passed away on Saturday of cardiac arrest. He was 75 years old.
His nephew, Calasiao, Pangasinan mayor Joseph Bauzon, and former Toyota teammate Ramón Fernández were among those who paid tribute to Bauzon, who represented the country at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
The former Santo Tomas University standout also won three titles with Toyota at the 1973 MICAA and the first two PBA conferences in 1975.
It was also part of the Philippines’ victory at the 1967 ABC Championship in South Korea under coach Caloy Loyzaga, scoring 12 points in a close 83-80 victory over the host nation in the final.
Bauzon averaged 9.4 points during the competing team’s nine-game sweep.
The victory earned the country a place in the 1968 Mexico Games, and Bauzon became part of the team that placed 13th overall.
Back home, Bauzon began his MICAA career with Ysmael Steel and Meralco, winning a title at the 1971 Open, before moving to Toyota in 1973.
He and the rest of the comets enjoyed instant success when they claimed the title of Cinderella on their first foray into the MICAA fold.
Fernández recalled that Bauzon’s last-second shot in the semifinals helped the Comets reach the final against Concepción Motorolas.
He also donned the Toyota jersey when the Comets defeated arch-rival Redmanizers in the first and second conferences of the newly formed PBA in 1975. The Comets were denied a Grand Slam after losing to the Redmanizers in the All-Philippine Championship. .
Bauzon played two more seasons with the Delta franchise before concluding his career with Mariwasa in 1978.
He was also a coach for UST, Adamson and the University of the Philippines in the 1990s.
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