[FuzzyRussianHat]

The European Baseball Federation added two players into its Hall of Fame from the 1984 voting. LF Sauncho Fiero was a first ballot selection with 94.5%, while RF Paul Schlacher got the boost up to 78.0% on his seventh ballot. The only other player above 50% was SP Munib Jovicic, short of the 66% requirement with 57.0% on his eighth attempt.



Dropped after ten ballots was SP Rayan Boulay, who had a 14-year career with Paris. He had a 161-101 record, 2.75 ERA, 2728 strikeouts over 2342.2 innings with 55.5 WAR. Pretty firmly a Hall of Very Good guy who peaked at 22.8% on his second ballot. Also dropped was Levin Feuersanger, a two-way player who played 16 seasons between Zurich and Berlin. On the mound, he had a 184-145 record, 3.07 ERA, 2579 strikeouts over 3057.1 innings, and 57.9 WAR. In the outfield, he had 22.2 WAR with a .275/.341/.525 slash, 621 hits, 360 runs, 147 home runs, and 374 RBI. The combined numbers didn’t win over the voters as he wasn’t a dominant player with Feuersander peaking at 35.1% on his debut. Both he and Boulay were in the single-digits by the end.



Sauncho “Headhunter” Fiero – Left Field – Athens Anchors – 94.5% First Ballot

Sauncho Fiero was a 6’2’’, 200 pound left-handed left fielder from Fuenlabrada, a Spanish city of around 200,000 people within the Community of Madrid. Fiero was a fantastic contact hitter that was also solid at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He had excellent gap power with very good speed, averaging around 30 doubles and 20 triples per season. Although he had strong gap power, Fiero didn’t hit many home runs with a career high of 13. He was considered an ironman as he made 140+ starts in 16 straight seasons. Fiero was a career left fielder, although he was a lousy defender. He was endearing though as a quiet, humble, hard-working player who you could always count on.

As a teenager amateur in Spain, Fiero was spotted by a scout from Athens. At age 16, he was signed and brought to Greece on a developmental deal. Fiero debuted with a few appearances in 1960 at age 19, then became a full-time starter for the Anchors for the next 16 seasons. In his first full season, Fiero won a batting title with a .345 average and led the Southern Conference with 211 hits, earning him the 1961 Rookie of the Year. He would win five batting titles and lead in hits six times. Fiero also was the conference leader in doubles thrice and OBP once.

Without the big slugging numbers, Fiero was never in the top three in MVP voting and often was just short of the Silver Slugger. Still, he won the Slugger four times (1965, 67, 68, 69). Fiero also was a regular for Spain in the World Baseball Championship with 109 starts from 1962-77. He had 122 hits, 53 runs, 29 doubles, 3.2 WAR, and a .298/.389/.425 slash in the WBC. Athens made the playoffs four times in his tenure, although they never got beyond the conference final and Fiero had an iffy .197 average in 17 games.

He kept chugging along though and climbed his way up the all-time hits leaderboard, eventually becoming the European Baseball Federation’s hit leader and first player to 3000 career hits. His gap power started to fade in his later years and he was demoted to a part-time role by the end with Athens. Fiero would be let go after the 1977 season, but kept a good relationship with the Anchors and would see his #35 uniform retired. He hoped to carry on and signed a three-year deal at age 37 with Seville, but he was middling in a part-time role with the Stingrays. After only one season back in Spain, Fiero opted to retire.

Fiero’s final stats: 3321 hits, 1428 runs, 541 doubles, 305 triples, 131 home runs, 1166 RBI, 937 walks, 896 stolen bases, a .329/.387/.481 slash, 153 wRC+, and 80.0 WAR. He would hold onto the hit-king crown until the mid 1990s and sits tenth as of 2037. At induction, he was also the doubles leader and remains sixth as of 2037. Fiero fell down the leaderboards in the later years, but the hits leader certainly isn’t going to be left out and he earned the first ballot nod at 94.5%.



Paul Schlacher – Right Field – Naples Nobles – 78.0% Seventh Ballot

Paul Schlacher was a 6’3’’, 200 pound left-handed right fielder from Leonding, a city of around 27,000 people in upper Austria. Schlacher was best known for having an excellent eye, getting on base quite often despite being an average contact hitter and only average at avoiding strikeouts. Schlacher had respectable home run power, regularly hitting 20+ and a couple times topping 35. He also averaged 30 doubles per season, although he didn’t stretch many out to triples with his below average speed. Schlacher was a career right fielder and typically viewed as being above average defensively. He was also pretty durable and regularly was a full-time starter for almost his entire career.

Schlacher was a late bloomer though, not debuting until he was 24 years old. He was spotted by a scout from Naples in 1954 and signed as a teenager amateur. He spent many seasons in the developmental system, but the Nobles’ patience ultimately paid off. He only started half of the games in his rookie year, but was impressive enough to take second in the 1961 Rookie of the Year voting. Schlacher would be a full-time starter for the rest of his Naples run with 130+ starts each year for the next decade in Italy.

He would win Silver Sluggers in 1966 and 67. In 1966, Schlacher had a sudden power burst, smacking a Southern Conference best 51 home runs and 121 RBI. He also led in WAR (11.3), OPS (1.118), and wRC+ (224) to earn his lone MVP award. He took third in voting the next year, still leading in OPS and wRC+ while posting a 10.1 WAR season. Schlacher never again had the same type of power, but he’d post ten seasons worth 5+ WAR in his career. He also was a regular for Austria in the World Baseball Championship with 120 starts from 1962-77. In that stretch he had 93 hits, 60 runs, 35 home runs, 72 RBI, and 4.4 WAR.

Naples was a middling team during Schlacher’s best seasons. They would finally get to the playoffs with three straight division titles from 1969-71, but they were one-and-done each season in the playoffs. Still, he was a very popular player for his decade in Naples and would have his #17 uniform retired at the end of his pro career. Schlacher’s Nobles run and run in Europe ended after the 1972 season as the 36 year old became a free agent, drawing international suitors. He decided to sign a three-year, $1,016,000 deal with Brooklyn.

Schlacher had a strong MLB debut with a 6.0 WAR season. He had three solid years with the Dodgers worth 14.1 WAR in total. After that contract ran out, he played two more seasons with Boston. Schlacher was a solid starter in his first year with the Red Sox, but saw his role lessened as age continued to chase him. He opted to retire after the 1977 season at age 41. For his five MLB seasons, Schlacher had 18.4 WAR, 621 hits, 383 runs, 114 home runs, and 359 RBI.

For his full pro career, Schlacher had 98.9 WAR, 2377 hits, 1414 runs, 436 home runs, 1433 RBI, a .277/.376/.497 slash, and 152 wRC+. However, his EBF Hall of Fame criteria was mainly focused on his Naples run with a .290/.391/.524 slash, 80.5 WAR, 161 wRC+, 1756 hits, 1031 runs, 322 home runs, and 1074 RBI. Schlacher didn’t have the tenure or dominance to be up the leaderboards, although his OBP and WAR marks gave him some traction. He debuted at 43.7% and fell to 33.6% on his second attempt, making many figure Schlacher’s candidacy was doomed. He pinballed around and got to 64.3% on his fifth ballot, barely missing the 66% threshood. He dropped back to 52.1% on his sixth ballot, but enough voters changed their mind for a seventh ballot induction with 78.0%.