THE birth of the PBA's greatest rivalry happened 45 years ago when Crispa and Toyota met for the first time in Asia's first play-for-pay league.
Crispa came out with a 139-133 win over Toyota on May 10, 1975 in a high-scoring and physical affair witnessed by 11,000 fans at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Bogs Adornado, who was eventually named the league's first Most Valuable Player, scored 29 points to lead six Crispa players in double figures as coach Baby Dalupan's wards handed Toyota its first loss after a 6-0 start.
Atoy Co and Philip Cezar added 24 and 22 points for the Redmanizers, MICAA All-Filipino title series in October.
The historic affair was not without fireworks as Toyota's Oscar Rocha threw a punch that landed in the face of Crispa playmaker Bernard Fabiosa in the final seconds of the contest.
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Founding Commissioner Leo Prieto slapped Rocha with a one-month suspension and a P500 fine while Fabiosa got a P50 penalty for throwing the ball at Toyota's Tino Reynoso.
Reynoso, who topscored for Toyota in a losing effort with 32 points, was fined P25 for flashing a dirty finger during the incident.
Francis Arnaiz had 25 points while Ompong Segura added 23 for coach Dante Silverio's Comets. Ramon Fernandez and Robert Jaworski had nine and eight points respectively.
It was the first of 123 encounters between the Danny Floro-owned franchise and the Delta Motors ballclub, highlighting the infant years of the professional league.
Toyota would win the first two conferences of the league in 1975 before its quest for a Grand Slam was denied by Crispa in the season-ending All-Philippine Championship.
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Crispa completed the Triple Crown the following year, defeating Toyota in the finals of all three conferences. The two teams would figure in four more championship duels.
Their final meeting came on Oct. 9, 1983 when Crispa won 111-96 over Toyota at the Araneta Coliseum.
Crispa defeated Toyota 65 times while the team that used the monikers Comets, Tamaraws, Super Diesels, Super Corollas and Silver Coronas was able to produce 58. The Redmanizers also took six of the two teams' 10 finals showdowns, including the 1979 All-Filipino and the memorable 20-1 run in the 1980 All-Filipino.
Toyota's other title wins against Crispa were in the 1979 Invitational and 1981 Open Conference.
Toyota disbanded after the 1983 season and sold its franchise to Beer Hausen while Crispa followed suit when Shell bought the team prior to the 1985 campaign.(JT)
