[FuzzyRussianHat]

The success and popularity of baseball in North America and the Caribbean naturally caused the game to continue to spread further south. In South America, Venezuela and Colombia were the first places where the game took off. The love for the game spread down the Andes Mountains and eventually even penetrated Brazil and Argentina, two nations that had already taken a liking to football. But the draw of the game and the financial rewards seen from MLB, CABA, and EAB, meant that South Americans wanted in on the action.

Inspired in part by CABA’s multinational structure, Beisbol Sudamerica was created as the sanctioning body for the professional game on the continent. With the first official season in 1931, BSA was divided into two leagues:

Liga Bolivar, named for the independence leader Simon Bolivar, was made up of teams from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The North Division would have four Venezuelan teams (Caracas Colts, Barquisimeto Black Cats, Valencia Velocity, and Maracaibo Mariners) and two Colombian teams (Bogota Bats, Medellin Mutiny). The South Division had one Colombian team (Cali Cyclones), two from Ecuador (Quito Thunderbolts, Guayaquil Golds), two from Peru (Lima Lobos, Callao Cats), and one from Bolivia (La Paz Pump Jacks).

Liga Cono Sur (Southern Cone) also had two six-team divisions. The Brazil Division had the Sao Paulo Padres, Rio de Janeiro Redbirds, Fortaleza Fozes, Salvador Storm, Brasilia Bearcats, and Belo Horizonte Hogs. The South Division had three teams from Argentina (Buenos Aires Atlantics, Rosario Robins, Cordoba Chanticleers), one from Chile (Santiago Saints), one from Uruguay (Montevideo Venom), and one from Paraguay (Asuncion Archers).

The division champions would meet in a best-of-seven league championship series much like the CABA and EAB set up. Then, the two league champions would play a best-of-seven Copa Sudamerica to be crowned the top team on the continent.