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Luca Ulloa – Third Base – Salvador Storm – 96.0% First Ballot

Luca Ulloa was a 6’0’’, 190 pound right-handed third baseman from Marica, Brazil, a city of around 224,000 people within the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. Ulloa was best known for reliably strong home run power and a nice knack for drawing walks. He had 16 seasons with 30+ homers and topped 40+ seven times. Ulloa was merely an average at best contact hitter and struggled with strikeouts.

His gap power was respectable with around 20-25 doubles most years. Ulloa’s baserunning and speed were both abysmal though, so you couldn’t expect many extra bags with his legs. He had an absolute cannon arm and solid glovesmanship at third base, grading as reliably good-to-great defensively.

Ulloa played exclusively at third, making more than 3000 starts at the hot corner. He was fairly durable for a 22-year career, plying 130+ games in all but four of those seasons. Ulloa was one of the hardest working guys in the game. He was a fan favorite known for his great leadership and loyalty. Few Brazilian players of the era were more popular.

By the 1988 BSA Draft, Ulloa was one of the top amateur prospects. Salvador selected him 12^th overall, beginning a 16-year odyssey with the Storm. Ulloa was a full-timer right away, winning 1989 Rookie of the Year honors with a 3.9 WAR debut season. He topped 5+ WAR thrice in his first five seasons as a solid starter, only missing the mark in 1991 to a torn thumb ligament. By the end of the 1993 season, Salvador signed Ulloa to an eight-year, $13,560,000 extension.

Ulloa played for his native Brazil right away in the World Baseball Championship and ended up with 209 games and 204 starts in the WBC from 1990-2009. In total, he had 151 hits, 95 runs, 23 doubles, 49 home runs, 99 RBI, 79 walks, a .216/.303/.460 slash, 119 wRC+, and 4.6 WAR. Ulloa’s debut WBC saw Brazil win the world title in 1990. They would make six more semifinal appearances during his run.

Salvador would earn wild card appearances in 1990 and 1993, but lost in the first round both years. Although Ulloa would reach his prime in the late 1990s, the Storm were stuck in the middle tier with no berths and 83.1 wins per year from 1994-2000. 1994 would be Ulloa’s first of seven seasons worth 7+ WAR from then to 2002. He shared a league with nine-time Silver Slugger winner Dyjan Rondo early on, meaning Ulloa’s first Silver Slugger didn’t come until age 31.

That was his 1998 season, which also saw a second in MVP voting and a career and league best 10.2 WAR. Ulloa led the Southern Cone League with 113 RBI and also added 198 wRC+, 46 home runs, and a .965 OPS. He lost some momentum though with a torn UCL costing him the final two months of 1999.

Ulloa bounced back with a career and league best 62 home runs in 2000 for his second Silver Slugger. Surprisingly, he wasn’t an MVP finalist despite also having 9.7 WAR and 134 RBI. Ulloa also had career bests in 2000 in runs (105), hits (184), triple slash (.316/.351/.678), and OPS (1.029). He grabbed his third Slugger in 2002.

Salvador ended their playoff drought with wild cards in 2001 and 2002, but again were bounced in the first round. Ulloa still showed no signs of slowing down and at age 35 inked another three years and $15,300,000 with the Storm. After being stuck in the mid-tier for so long, Salvador finally broke through with Ulloa in 2004.

2004 saw a 96-66 record and their first North Division title since 1981. Salvador also won their first pennant since 1981, although they lost to Bogota in Copa Sudamerica. Ulloa was subpar in the playoffs with a .220/.278/.380 slash, 88 wRC+, and 0.2 WAR. For his playoff career, he had 36 starts, a .270/.333/.484 slash, 140 wRC+, and 0.9 WAR. Ulloa remained a beloved favorite and wasn’t generally blamed for the lack of playoff success.

Ulloa’s contract was up with the 2004 campaign and Salvador didn’t want to commit big money to a 38-year old, even if he still was playing at a high level. In total for Salvador, Ulloa had 2412 hits, 1192 runs, 351 doubles, 590 home runs, 1544 RBI, a .279/.325/.535 slash, 151 wRC+, and 102.4 WAR. The Storm would later retire his #26 uniform as well and he’d be a regular fixture at Salvador events post retirement.

Teams worldwide were interested in this popular veteran and MLB’s Milwaukee Mustangs gave Ulloa a two-year, $15,000,000 deal. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season and he was merely an average starter with 2.6 WAR and a 104 wRC+ for Milwaukee in 2005. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the second year of the deal.

Chicago signed Ulloa for 2006, but he was terrible with -0.3 WAR and a .536 OPS over 144 games. That ended his MLB tenure after two years, but the 40-year old Ulloa still wanted to play. He returned to South America on a two-year, $8,160,000 deal with Caracas. In 2007, Ulloa became the 12^th BSA slugger to reach 600 home runs and the 45^th to reach 2500 hits. He also won his fourth Silver Slugger in 2007.

Ulloa was back to being a very solid starter with the Colts. In his two seasons, he had 279 hits, 149 runs, 49 doubles, 69 home runs, 171 RBI, a .269/.317/.529 slash, 124 wRC+, and 8.5 WAR. However, he couldn’t find any takes after that, ending his Beisbol Sudamerica run after the 2008 season at age 41.

He was still in good health and wanting to play somewhere. In 2009, Ulloa signed with Hobart of the Oceania Baseball Association. He still could smack the ball hard, posting 41 homers and 4.7 WAR in 2009 to win a Silver Slugger. Guam signed him in 2010, but a strained groin kept him out two months. He ended up with average production for the Golden Eagles, but still managed 30 home runs in 109 games.

In two OBA seasons, Ulloa had 208 hits, 118 runs, 36 doubles, 71 home runs, 163 RBI, a .221/.263/.492 slash, 110 wRC+, and 7.0 WAR. He still wanted to play, but finally retired at age 45 after going unsigned in 2011. For his combined pro career, Ulloa had 3186 games, 3085 hits, 1545 runs, 463 doubles, 769 home runs, 1982 RBI, a .267/.313/.516 slash, 139 wRC+, and 120.1 WAR.

Just in BSA, Ulloa ended with 2691 hits, 1341 runs, 400 doubles, 50 triples, 659 home runs, 1715 RBI, 649 walks, a .278/.324/.534 slash, 148 wRC+, and 110.8 WAR. As of 2037, Ulloa ranks 20^th in WAR among position players, 15^th in home runs, 12^th in RBI, 50^th in hits, and 60^th in runs.

Specifically at third base, he ranks fourth in WAR. Ulloa never won a Gold Glove, but his reliable defense earned him the seventh-most zone rating at the spot in BSA at 69.8. Ulloa wasn’t one to generally dominate leaderboards, but few would argue against him as his era’s most complete third baseman. Ulloa would be a headliner in almost any other class, receiving 96.0% as the second addition in BSA’s 2014 Hall of Fame group.



Lobo Alvarado – Closer – Mendoza Mutants – 71.7% First Ballot

Lobo Alvarado was a 6’3’’, 200 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had incredible stuff in his prime which some scouts graded as a 12 or 13 on a scale from 1/10. Alvarado also had very solid control and above average movement. He had a one-two punch of a 98-100 mph fastball and an almost equally quick and even more dangerous slider.

Especially for a reliever, Alvarado had excellent stamina and ironman durability, meaning he was ready to go as much as needed at almost any time. Alvarado had an impressive work ethic and would become one of the first really popular players for the new Mendoza franchise. The Mutants joined Beisbol Sudamerica in the 1987 expansion, but saw their first winning seasons during Alvarado’s tenure.

Two-pitch guys were pretty much guaranteed to be bullpen pieces and that’s how Alvarado graded out. It was also rare for even great relief prospects to get picked high in the draft due to the comparatively lower value versus a starter or position player. However, Mendoza fell in love with Alvarado’s potential, picking him #2 overall in the 1994 BSA Draft. The Mutants made him their closer immediately, a role he held for eight years.

Alvarado was spotty as a rookie, but quickly found his footing. He won his first Reliever of the Year in his third season of 1997. Alvarado won ROTY three times for Mendoza, also taking it in 1998 and 2002. He took second in 2001’s voting as well.

His best ERA (1.48) and ERA+ (216) came in the 1997 campaign. Alvarado’s career-best for saves was 48 in 1999, his lone time leading the league. His 161 strikeouts in 1998 was his top mark with the Mutants and his 5.1 WAR in 2002 was his Mendoza best.

Mendoza’s first playoff appearance was a division title in 1996, although they were one-and-done in the playoffs. They earned their first Southern Cone Championship appearance in 1999, but lost to eventual Copa Sudamerica champ Brasilia. The Mutants were one-and-done again in 2000, then fell back to the bottom for the standings for the next few years. In his 18.2 playoff innings for Mendoza, Alvarado had an excellent 0.96 ERA, 7 saves, and 31 strikeouts.

Alvarado was especially dominant on the World Baseball Championship stage for Argentina. He had 19 starts and 14 relief appearances from 1996-2007, posting a stellar 1.93 ERA, 16-4 record, 8 saves, 308 strikeouts, 55 walks, 185 ERA+, and 7.8 WAR. Alvarado made history in 2004 with the WBC’s sixth-ever perfect game, striking out 20 against North Korea.

With Mendoza dropping to 67-95 by 2002, the Mutants began a fire sale that included trading Alvarado to Belo Horizonte for prospects. In total with Mendoza, Alvarado had a 2.12 ERA, 663.2 innings, 290 saves, 1016 strikeouts, 154 ERA+, and 29.5 WAR. He made enough of an impression to see his #33 uniform as Mendoza’s first retired number at the end of his career.

Alvarado had a career-best 5.6 WAR in 2003 for Belo Horizonte, winning his fourth Reliever of the Year. At the time, he was the seventh in BSA history to win Reliever of the Year four times. Alvarado finished third in 2004’s voting with the Hogs just above .500 in both seasons. He had 66 saves, a 2.13 ERA, 194.1 innings, 340 strikeouts, and 9.9 WAR.

He became the 10^th to reach 350 career saves in BSA and was a free agent for 2005 at age 32. Some thought he could chase the saves record if he stayed, but Alvarado opted for the MLB payday on a three-year, $16,200,000 deal with Memphis. Alvarado looked good in limited use for the Mountain Cats with a 1.62 ERA over 66.2 innings and 2.0 WAR. He also had 4.1 scoreless innings in the playoffs in 2005.

Memphis never gave him a big role though and ended up trading Alvarado to Austin for three prospects and a draft pick. He never pitched for the Amigos though, who cut him after 2007 spring training. Albuquerque scooped him up quickly where he posted an average 3.72 ERA over 36.1 innings for the Isotopes. In total for MLB, Alvarado had a 2.36 ERA, 103 innings, 10 saves, 134 strikeouts, and 2.8 WAR.

Now 35-years old, Alvarado felt he could still be a closer if he came back to South America. Sao Paulo signed him to a one-year deal in 2008, but his velocity had plummeted to this point, peaking in the 90-92 mph range. The Padres gave him 15 relief appearances and even three starts, but Alvarado posted a lousy 5.32 ERA over 45.2 innings. He retired after the 2008 season at age 35.

Alvarado’s BSA career had 356 saves and 423 shutdowns over 903.2 innings, a 2.28 ERA, 1383 strikeouts, 214 walks, 149 ERA+, and 39.2 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 20^th in saves. Alvarado didn’t reach the 1000 innings needed to qualify for all-time rate stats, but he’d be around a top ten K/9.

His stats compared favorably to other Hall of Fame relievers in BSA and he had the distinction of four Reliever of the Year awards. Some voters felt Alvarado didn’t quite have the longevity, but his popularity and WBC excellence helped get him across the line. At 71.7%, Alvarado was a first-ballot inductee and the third member of BSA’s 2014 Hall of Fame class.