Former Pros: Marte Saldaña

Marte Saldaña was a crack guard who defined speed in the 1980s. He played in nine seasons in the pros averaging 11.3 ppg in 407 games for four different teams: San Miguel Beer, Alaska, Presto and Sarsi. Marte was not a superstar but he was a very efficient guard whose deadly penetration and perimeter shooting skills was a bane to most teams.

The 5-9 Saldaña was born on February 23, 1959. He started playing hoops at the Camp Aguinaldo High School. After spending three years at CARS, he was recruited by then FEU star Bert dela Rosa for the Tamaraws. In 1974, he played a season for the FEU juniors. From 1975-77 he was a mainstay in the senior team coached by Turo Valenzona. From 1977 to 1979, he played for Solidmills. He made the RP Youth team which saw action in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 1979. He gained utmost recognition when he was invited to play for some European ballclubs after his outstanding performance in the tourney.

In 1980, he joined APCOR. He suffered a knee injury and had to skip play for six months. Barely a few months after returning to APCOR, the team disbanded. He joined the PBA in 1982 carrying the colors of San Miguel Braves and won Rookie of the Year honors, besting the likes of JB Yango, Bambi Kabigting, Steve Watson, Terry Saldana, Frankie Lim, Rad Pasco, Zaldy Latoza, Kenneth Yap, and Melvin Martin.