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The Beisbol Sudamerica Hall of Fame added two players from the 1977 voting, both securing first ballot nods. SP Lucas Silva led the way with 93.7%, joined by 2B Jerrold Perez with 81.8%. Only one other was above 50% with closer Jaguare Maia at 59.3% for his third attempt. There weren’t any players who were cut after ten failed attempts in 1977.



Lucas Silva – Starting Pitcher – Fortaleza Foxes – 93.7% First Ballot

Lucas Silva was a 5’10’’, 200 pound right-handed pitcher from Pedra, a small town of around 22,000 people in northeastern Brazil. Silva’s biggest strengths were very good control, stamina, and durability. His velocity peaked at 97-99 mph, but he was rated still as having merely above average stuff and average movement. Silva had a strong fastball, mixed with a forkball, changeup, and curveball, leading to a flyball tendency. He provided consist innings, leading the Southern Cone League in innings pitched five times and posting 260+ innings in all 14 years of his pro career.

Silva was picked fifth overall in the 1957 Beisbol Sudamerica Draft by Fortaleza. He’d spent his full pro career with the Foxes and was a full-time starter instantly. His 150 ERA+ was a career best in his debut, earning Silva the Rookie of the Year in 1958. He led the league with a career best 7.9 WAR in 1961, although he generally wasn’t a league leader beyond his innings. Silva never won the top award, but was second in Pitcher of the Year voting in 1961 and third three times (1966, 67, 70).

Fortaleza had a run of contention with four straight division titles from 1964-67. The Foxes were Southern Cone champs in 1965 and 1967; winning their second-ever Copa Sudamerica in 1967. In 83.1 playoff innings, Silva had a 4.10 ERA with 69 strikeouts. He also pitched for Brazil in the World Baseball Championship in the 1960s but struggled with a 7.28 ERA over 47 innings. Silva’s regular season stats weren’t dominant, but he had more consistent numbers in his regular season career. Silva was still respectable in his final season of 1971, but opted to retire at only 36-years old. The Foxes immediately retired his #18 uniform.

Silva’s final stats: 231-165 record, 2.67 ERA, 3873 innings, 3825 strikeouts, 618 walks, 345/473 quality starts, 148 complete games, a FIP- of 83, and 82.1 WAR. Despite retiring relatively early, his durability and stamina meant he had sneakily solid accumulations, even without any major dominant seasons. Some voters were surprised how solid his resume looked and when the voting came around, they didn’t hesitate to give Silva the first ballot nod at 93.7%.



Jerrold “Abnormal” Perez – Second Baseman – Santiago Saints – 81.8% First Ballot

Jerrold Perez was a 5’11’’, 195 pound right-handed second baseman from Calama, a city of around 150,000 people in northern Chile. Perez was an excellent contact hitter in his prime with a solid pop in his bat worth around 30 home runs and 25 doubles per year. Perez was okay at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. Despite being a career second baseman, Perez had below average speed and was viewed as a poor defender. He was far better a hitter than most at the position and provided great leadership, intelligence, and durability.

Perez was picked sixth overall out of high school in the 1953 Beisbol Sudamerica by Santiago. He stayed in Chile for his entire South American career. He had a few pinch hit appearances in his first three seasons, then became a starter in the 1957 season at age 23. Perez won his first of eight Silver Sluggers this year, also winning the award in 1959, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, and 65. In 1959, Perez finished second in MVP voting with a 9.5 WAR season.

In 1960, Perez won the MVP and posted the sixth hitting Triple Crown in BSA history, posting 37 home runs, 111 RBI, and a .352 average with career bests in wRC+ (234) and WAR (9.9). Perez would take second in 1964’s MVP voting and won his second batting title. With Santiago, Perez had 10 straight seasons worth 6+ WAR and led in hits twice and runs once. He also became a popular Chilean baseball figure by playing 126 games for Chile in the World Baseball Championship from 1957-76, posting 119 hits, 59 runs, 34 home runs, 71 RBI, and 4.5 WAR.

Santiago dominated their division with 17 playoff appearances in 19 seasons from 1957-73. Perez played in nine postseasons and posted 2.9 WAR in 66 playoff games with 72 hits, 38 runs, 16 home runs, and 43 RBI. The Saints won Copa Sudamerica three times in Perez’ tenure (1961, 1964, 1966) and he played a huge role. Perez was the 1961 Copa Sudamerica MVP and won the Southern Cone League Championship MVP in both 1964 and 1966. This cemented Perez as a legend with the Saints, whose #43 uniform would get retired.

In 1967, Perez was moved to a backup role primarily despite being healthy. Only 34 years old at this point, he opted to leave the team in free agency and ended his Beisbol Sudamerica career. Perez still had plenty of baseball left, going to Major League Baseball on a five-year, $1,120,000 deal with Jacksonville. He was no longer an award winner, but Perez was a respectable starter in five years with the Gators, posting 15.3 WAR with 711 hits, 346 runs, 147 home runs, and 427 RBI.

He had four more MLB seasons after with okay production when healthy, although injuries kept him out quite a bit. Charlotte signed him at age 39 for the 1973 season, then traded him mid 1974 to Seattle. Perez played two full seasons with the Grizzlies and retired after the 1976 campaign at age 43. In his MLB career, Perez had 1115 hits, 573 runs, 233 home runs, 696 RBI, a .269/.316/.478 slash, and 17.8 WAR.

For his entire pro career, Perez had 2963 hits, 1423 runs, 427 doubles, 557 home runs, 1673 RBI, a .294/.337/.510 slash and 96.2 WAR. Just in Beisbol Sudamerica with Santiago, Perez had 1848 hits, 850 runs, 285 doubles, 324 home runs, 977 RBI, a .311/.351/.531 slash, 183 wRC+, and 78.4 WAR. The BSA accumulations are lower than many Hall of Famers since his run was only a decade long, but he certainly was considered by most as the top hitting second baseman in his Saints tenure. His tallies were enough to get Perez the first ballot nod at 81.8%.