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Three players were inducted into Beisbol Sudamerica’s Hall of Fame in 2012, each on their first ballot. Pitcher Aaron Casas (91.9%) and OF Jose Sanchez (89.6%) both made it with very little opposition. SP Pacheta Castaneda joined them, narrowly crossing the 66% requirement at 69.7%. Closer Raymond Angeles almost made it a four-player class, but missed by one point (65.0%) in his debut. The top returner was C Moises Avalos, the only other player above 50% with 57.2% on his fourth ballot.



The ballot had some cleaning with three guys dropped following ten failed tries. Highest ranked among them was pitcher Harvey Rizo, the 1995 Bolivar League Pitcher of the Year. In 13 seasons between Lima and La Paz, he had a 195-157 record, 3.25 ERA, 3315.1 innings, 3095 strikeouts, 469 walks, 111 ERA+, and 63.7 WAR.

Even the pitcher-friendly BSA voters thought Rizo was more a Hall of Good type who didn’t quite have the longevity for accumulations or the dominance to overlook that. Rizo debuted at 49.5% and hovered around the 30-50% range most of the time, but he ended at a low of 13.8%.

Pablo Baia also fell off, debuting at 49.8% but ending with a mere 8.4%. He pitched 11 years mostly with Belo Horizonte with a 146-111 record, 2.81 ERA, 2465.2 innings, 2631 strikeouts, 420 walks, 119 ERA+, 140 complete games, and 62.9 WAR. Baia helped the Hogs win the 1991 Copa Sudamerica, posting a stellar 1.00 ERA over 36 playoff innings in that run. That run led to Baia’s #49 getting retired by Belo Horizonte.

His rate stats were more in line with other Hall of Famers, but Baia’s career had an abrupt end at age 32 from a torn rotator cuff. If he could’ve stuck around a few more years to get accumulations, Baia likely would’ve made the cut.

Reliever Pascal Escareno also fell off, having pitched a decade with Recife, followed by five MLB seasons. He won two Cups and two Reliever of the Year awards with the Retrievers, posting a 1.66 ERA in 655.1 innings, 251 saves and 330 shutdowns, 952 strikeouts, 192 ERA+, and 27.5 WAR. Although they won two titles, his playoff 4.29 ERA was uninspiring.

Again, Escareno might have made the cut with a bit more longevity within BSA. He debuted at 47.4% in 2003, but pretty much only fell down. Escareno ended at 6.1% in 2012. He did at least earn ring of honor recognition with his #8 uniform retired by Recife.



Aaron Casas – Starting Pitcher – Asuncion Archers – 91.9% First Ballot

Aaron Casas was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; a city of 300,000 inhabitants on the southeastern border. Casas had excellent stuff, good to great movement, and average control. His fastball regularly hit the 97-99 mph range, although his curveball was his most devastating pitch. Casas also boasted a great cutter and a good splitter.

His stamina was low compared to most BSA aces, but he had good durability for much of his run. Casas was an excellent defensive pitcher, winning four Gold Gloves. He could hit better than most pitchers with a career .258/.285/.361 slash, winning Silver Sluggers in 1995 and 2000. Casas’ strong work ethic also pushed him to a successful career.

Casas was considered the best Paraguayan prospect in the 1992 BSA Draft and the capital Asuncion had the #1 overall pick. They selected Casas in hopes he could lead the downtrodden franchise to success. The Archers had only one playoff berth in 62 years of history to that point, averaging an abysmal 67.7 wins per season. Many Asuncion fans figured they just weren’t allowed to have nice things.

In his rookie year, Casas was split between the rotation and bullpen with decent results. He was a full-time starter after that, although he was merely above average in his first few seasons. Asuncion still hoped he’d live up to the billing, giving Casas a five-year, $12,040,000 extension in May 1997. He would post six straight 6+ WAR seasons from there.

1997 would be the breakout year for Casas with a 2.10 ERA and 6.0 WAR, taking second in Pitcher of the Year voting. This also marked the turnaround for Asuncion, earning their first playoff berth since their lone 1939 appearance. Even better, the Archers won the Southern Cone League title, although they lost Copa Sudamerica to Lima.

Casas’s lone Pitcher of the Year came in 1998, leading the league in wins (24-2) and ERA (1.86), both career bests. Asuncion won the Southern Cone League again and fell in a Copa Sudamerica rematch with Lima. Casas surprisingly struggled in the playoffs with an abysmal 8.31 ERA over 26 innings. He led the league with a career best 352 strikeouts in 1999 and had a career-best 8.2 WAR.

2000 started a four year streak of Gold Gloves for Casas. Asuncion made it back and won their third Southern Cone League pennant in four years, although Bogota denied them the Cup. Casas redeemed his prior poor postseason effort, tossing 36 innings with 49 strikeouts and a 1.75 ERA. In 2001, he led in WHIP with a career best 0.81 and in wins at 23-7, taking second in POTY voting.

2001 was historic for Asuncion with a franchise-best 110-52. They won their fourth pennant in five years and finally won their first Copa Sudamerica, getting revenge against Lima. Casas had a huge postseason, going 5-0 in seven appearances with a 1.38 ERA over 39 innings, 46 strikeouts, and 1.6 WAR. That run forever justified the #1 overall pick usage for Casas a decade earlier.

Casas was one of Paraguay’s most well-known baseball figures. He also pitched from 1994-2004 in the World Baseball Championship with excellent results. He had a 1.98 ERA over 145.1 innings with 183 strikeouts, 50 walks, a 9-6 record, 181 ERA+, and 4.3 WAR.

2002 saw a third place finish in Pitcher of the Year voting for Casas. He was okay in his one playoff start, as Asuncion lost in the first round. The Archers would have first round exits in 2003 and 2004 as well. For his playoff career, Casas had a 10-4 record, 3.24 ERA, 136 innings, 168 strikeouts, 18 walks, 100 ERA+, and 4.1 WAR. The 2000 and 2001 excellence would forever mark his legacy.

Casas was a free agent for the first time heading into his age 32 season after the 2002 campaign. He ultimately stayed with Asuncion, signing a six-year, $29,280,000 deal. Casas had a good 2003, but missed the final month and the playoffs to a ruptured finger tendon. He was never the same after that with the injury tanking his control. Casas was mediocre in 2004 and 2005, eventually moved out of the rotation.

The magic seemed to be over as Asuncion collapsed in 2005 at 64-98. They had resurgence with five straight playoff berths after that. At 87-75, the Archers made a surprising run to their second Copa Sudamerica ring, beating Caracas in the final. Casas only had 51.1 innings in the regular season and one relief appearance in the playoffs, but he got to lift up the Cup for a second time. He retired with that at age 35 and immediately had his #27 uniform retired.

Casas finished with a 192-104 record, 2.78 ERA, 2851.2 innings, 3241 strikeouts, 603 walks, 270/372 quality starts, 51 complete games, 16 shutouts, 120 ERA+, and 59.5 WAR. Just based on raw stats, Casas’ numbers aren’t much different than the guys who fell off the ballot after ten failed tries. He didn’t crack the top 80 in WAR, wins, or strikeouts. Without the context, Casas seemed like a “Hall of Pretty Good” type.

With the context, he was the ace that helped turn a historically abysmal franchise into a contender with five pennants and two championship rings. Casas also had an ERA title and a Pitcher of the Year to go along with it. Even if the pure tallies were underwhelming, voters saw Casas as a headliner. He received 91.9% on the first ballot to leadoff BSA’s 2012 Hall of Fame class.