The PBA Philippine Cup Finals showdown between the San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok will mark the eighth time the two proud franchises meet for the title, including six in the tournament commonly known as the All-Filipino Cup.
Championship battles between San Miguel and the franchise used to be known as Purefoods were almost an annual occurrence between 1988 and 1994 with both teams, under different companies, parading some of the league's greatest players.
In fact, their first faceoff came in the 1988 Open Conference when San Miguel beat a Purefoods team that reached the finals in its very first conference in the league. The Beermen were led by playing coach Norman Black, Abet Guidaben, Hector Calma and Ricardo Brown while the Hotdogs had import David Thirdkill, playing coach Ramon Fernandez, Jerry Codinera and Jojo Lastimosa.
Fernandez would eventually play for San Miguel when it beat the Baby Dalupan-coached Purefoods in the 1989 All-Filipino. Samboy Lim, who missed the previous title showdown between the two teams to injury, joined Fernandez, Calma, and company in defeating the Alvin Patrimonio, Codinera, Lastimosa and Dindo Pumaren-led Hotdogs in six games.
It took another three years before San Miguel and Purefoods battled again, beginning a streak that saw the Beermen and Hotdogs meet in three straight All-Filipino Finals.
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San Miguel downed Purefoods, 4-3, in 1992, before Purefoods returned the favor in 1993 as Coney Island prevailed, 4-2, with rookie coach Chot Reyes winning the title in his first conference.
The Beermen redeemed themselves in 1994, scoring a similar 4-2 triumph over Coney Island to earn the right to represent the country in the Hiroshima Asian Games.
Ironically, Black was forced to include Patrimonio, Codinera and Rey Evangelista on the national team that eventually finished fourth due to a string of injuries that marred SMB's season.
SMB and Purefoods met anew in the 2000 Governors' Cup, with coach Jong Uichico, MVP Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle, Olsen Racela and import Lamont Strothers leading the charge for the Beermen's 4-1 win over the Patrimonio, Pumaren, Andy Seigle and import Derrick Brown.
Their last finals meeting came in the 2013 Governors' Cup - their first meeting carrying different names under the San Miguel Corporation banner.
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The former Purefoods team that became San Mig Super Coffee and coached by Tim Cone beat Petron in seven games behind James Yap, import Marcus Blakely and Finals MVP Marc Pingris. The Blaze Boosters were bannered by June Mar Fajardo, import Elijah Millsap, Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter.(JT)
