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Corner outfielder Ruben Chavez was the lone addition in 2000 to the Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame. He was a slam dunk choice, taking 95.4% in his debut. The next closest was catcher Hansel Morel at 61.4% in his tenth and final try. Also above 50% were 3B Pedro Pizarro at 53.7% for his fifth ballot and closer Reynaldo Alvarado at 52.8% in his ninth try.



Morel was another victim of the general anti-catcher bias among Hall of Fame voters. In 16 seasons with Guadalajara, he won eight Silver Sluggers, one Gold Glove, and posted 2031 hits, 940 runs, 367 doubles, 286 home runs, 1071 RBI, a .277/.324/.456 slash, 119 wRC+, and 72.7 WAR. As of 2037, he has the fifth best WAR of any CABA catcher and sixth most hits. However, the low accumulations that come with the position worked against Morel in the voting. He debuted at 49.8% and generally hovered in the 40-60% range. Morel’s closest efforts were 61.3% in 1998 and 61.4% in his final try in 2000.

Also dropped after ten ballots was 1B Ismael “Cooter” Alonso, who played 16 years with Haiti. He won two Silver Sluggers with 2233 hits, 1007 runs, 325 doubles, 150 triples, 104 home runs, 705 RBI, 974 stolen bases, a .322/.356/.457 slash, 127 wRC+, and 43.4 WAR. A fine leadoff man, but voters want dingers from first basemen. Alonso debuted and peaked at 30.6% before ending at 15.7%.



Ruben Chavez – Right/Left Field – Puebla Pumas – 95.4% First Ballot

Ruben Chavez was a 6’1’’, 200 pound left-handed corner outfielder from Tepic, Mexico; a city of around 330,000 inhabitants in the western state of Nayarit. In his prime, Chavez was a well-rounded hitter with strong contact and power, plus a great eye. He averaged around 40 home runs per 162 games for his career and added around 25 doubles. Chavez was quite slow as a baserunner and in the outfield. He did have a strong arm at least, splitting his career with about 3/5s of his starts in right and the rest in left. Chavez graded out as poor in both spots defensively, but his bat was well worth it. He was a hard worker and a fan favorite, becoming absolutely adored in his two decade career with Puebla.

Chavez was considered by many to be the absolute best prospect entering CABA’s 1974 Draft. Puebla had the #1 overall pick and agreed with that assessment. Chavez would be a full-time starter basically immediately and held that role for 20 years, only missing a few starts here and there to injury. He played 123 games as a rookie with 4.0 WAR, earning 1975 Rookie of the Year honors.

Chavez hit 40+ home runs five times from 1976-81, winning Silver Slugger in each of those years. 1981 had a league and career best 53 home runs, which earned Chavez his lone MVP. He was on pace for something special, as that tally came in only 119 games. Chavez missed the start of the 1981 season recovering from a broken kneecap suffered late in the 1980 campaign. He was consistently great with 7+ WAR in each of those seasons. Despite his consistent success, Chavez was almost never atop the leaderboards in any stats.

Puebla had bottomed out at 59 wins in the year Chavez was drafted. He helped get them back to respectability as they were at or above .500 each year from 1977-89. They would only make the playoffs thrice in his tenure, each time losing in the Mexican League Championship Series. In 21 playoff starts, Chavez had 19 hits, 12 runs, 6 doubles, 5 home runs, and 14 RBI. He also played from 1978-83 with Mexico in the World Baseball Championship. Chavez was part of the 1978 championship squad and posted 65 starts, 61 hits, 54 runs, 27 home runs, and 50 RBI over his tenure.

Chavez’s first contact extension came after the 1977 season for eight years and $3,182,000. He received another five years for $3,790,000 after the 1984 campaign. However, Chavez played only one game in 1985 as he yet again broke his kneecap in his right knee. He bounced back from that and gave them solid regular production for about another decade. Chavez was viewed as very solid, but no longer elite by this point.

He would win his seventh and final Silver Slugger in 1990, roughly a decade since his last one. He managed to see a resurgence with 42 home runs, 100 RBI, and 7.2 WAR at age 38. Chavez had gotten a three-year extension after the 1989 season, still beloved by Puebla fans. In the twilight years, Chavez crossed the 600 home run, 2500 hit, 1500 run, and 1500 RBI milestones. He still had a nice bat in his final year of 1944, but was only a part-time starter at this point mainly batting against right-handed pitching. Chavez retired at age 42 and immediately had his #8 uniform retired by Puebla. As of 2037, he’s still the franchise’s all-time leader in hits, games, and homers.

For his career, Chavez had 2692 hits, 1500 runs, 412 doubles, 677 home runs, 1604 RBI, 1052 walks, a .287/.361/.556 slash, 176 wRC+, and 109.7 WAR. As of 2037, he sits 22^nd among all hitters in career WAR and 13^th in home runs. He was one of the finest hitters of his era and a true franchise icon with Puebla. Chavez was an easy first ballot choice with 95.4%, becoming the lone member of CABA’s 2000 class.