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The Central American Baseball Association inducted two into the Hall of Fame with the 1988 class. Outfielder Alvaro Quintana led the way as a first ballot selection with 86.3%. First baseman Carlos De La Fuente joined him and finally got the nod in his sixth time on the ballot, receiving 75.1%.



Five players fell off the CABA ballot after ten failed tries. Pitcher Aaron De Paz ended with a peak of 50.2% on his final try. In 13 years with Guatemala and Tijuana, he won 1969 Pitcher of the Year and posted a 176-118 record, 2.97 ERA, 2841.2 innings, 2696 strikeouts, and 57.3 WAR. He needed a few more years of accumulations to get across the line. A similar fate befell Sebastian Cruz, the 1966 Pitcher of the Year. In 12 seasons, he had a 17-5110 record, 2.85 ERA, 2663.1 innings, 2585 strikeouts, and 46.3 WAR. Cruz also ended with his peak on his tenth ballot with 49.1%.

Catcher Sebastian Gonzalez fell off and ended at 42.7% after peaking at 57.1% on his third try. He won five Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, and two CABA rings with Jamaica, but was sunk by the general anti-catcher bias of the voters. Gonzalez had 2214 hits, 951 runs, 390 doubles, 274 home runs, 1114 RBI, a .271/.324/.435 slash, and 72.8 WAR. At retirement, he was third in WAR for CABA catchers behind the two Hall of Fame inductees Chip Perez (93.9) and Mar Pavia (91.1). As of 2037, he’s still third in WAR for catchers and no other catcher has made the hall since Perez in the 1950s, again highlighting the challenges catchers face in getting the nod.

Also dropped was Yovani Pena, who won three straight MVPs from 1959-61 with Honduras. He played 16 years, but petered out with some injuries woes after his big run, finishing with 1858 hits, 1190 runs, 274 doubles, 208 triples, 382 home runs, 1019 RBI, a .258/.351/.528 slash, and 71.6 WAR. Often, big awards and rings (he won two with the Horsemen) will get a guy the push even if the totals are low, but Pena peaked at only 28.0% and ended at 8.2%. Lastly dropped was Closer Kesnel Mondesir, who won one Reliever of the Year and pitched 16 seasons. However, half of that was in MLB, although his CABA tenure had 248 saves, a 2.19 ERA, 612.2 innings, 759 strikeouts, and 21.1 WAR. He peaked at 33.5% in his debut and ended at 8.2%.



Alvaro Quintana – Right Field – Costa Rica Rays – 86.3% First Ballot

Alvaro Quintana was a 6’3’’, 205 pound left-handed right fielder from Tipitapa, Nicaragua; a city of around 150,000 people part of the Managua metropolitan area. Quintana was a stellar slugger that averaged around 40 home runs per season in his career while hitting for a respectable average. He struck out a lot, but was still above average at drawing walks. Quintana had below average speed and didn’t leg out many triples, but his powerful bat still got you around 30 doubles per season. He spent his entire career in right field and was a subpar defender, but he was very durable and made 135+ starts in 15 different seasons.

Quintana was quickly identified as one of the top Central American amateur prospects coming into the 1967 CABA Draft. Costa Rica picked him second overall and he started half of his rookie season. Quintana was a full-time starter in his second year, although it wasn’t until his fourth year that he really broke out. He smacked 48 home runs with a 1.018 OPS and 8.5 WAR, earning his first of five Silver Sluggers and a third place finish in MVP voting. This also helped get the Rays their first playoff berth in 14 seasons. Costa Rica was convinced they found a star and signed Quintana to a five-year, $1,252,000 extension. He was also a regular in the World Baseball Championship for his native Nicaragua with 128 games between 1967-84. In that stretch, he had 104 hits, 78 runs, 21 doubles, 34 home runs, 67 RBI, and 4.4 WAR.

With the Rays, Quintana won additional Silver Sluggers in 1972, 1973, and 1975. He was third in 1972’s MVP voting and third again in 1975. He hit 40+ home runs four times with Costa Rica, although the Rays would be a middling team during this period. Much to the chagrin of their fans, Quintana declined his contract option after the 1975 season and entered free agency at age 30. Enough fans still remembered him fondly and his #32 uniform would eventually be retired by the franchise. With Costa Rica, Quintana had 1326 hits, 685 runs, 238 doubles, 298 home runs, 806 RBI, a .304/.354/.576 slash and 44.5 WAR.

Quintana stayed in the Continental Division and signed a six-year, $2,048,000 deal with Salvador. He was good, but not incredible, in his first two years with the Stallions. His third season of 1978 would be his finest however with career bests in home runs (53), runs (107), and RBI (124). This earned Quintana his fifth and final Silver Slugger and his lone MVP, while also ending Salvador’s 11-year playoff drought. He had 14 hits, 7 runs, 5 doubles, 3 home runs, and 11 RBI in the playoffs as the Stallions won the Caribbean League title, eventually falling in the CABA Championship to Juarez.

His next two seasons would still be starter quality, but easily the weakest of his career to that point. Salvador made the playoffs again in 1979, but lost in the CLCS to Santiago. With the Stallions, Quintana had 789 hits, 457 runs, 158 doubles, 198 home runs, 507 RBI, a .277/.328/.553 slash and 21.8 WAR. He declined his contract option and became a free agent for 1981 at age 35. MLB money came calling and he signed a three-year, $2,370,000 deal with Houston.

Quintana had a respectable year starting for the Hornets in 1982 with 3.6 WAR, but they would cut him after one game in 1982. He returned to CABA and signed with Mexico City and showed he could still hack it, posting 38 home runs and 5.9 WAR in his one season with the Aztecs. That run got Quintana another MLB contact, this time for $2,040,000 with Indianapolis. He was merely okay in 1983 and eventually was benched in 1984, opting to retire after the season at age 39. In his MLB tenure, he had 342 hits, 65 home runs, 192 RBI, and 4.2 WAR.

For his CABA career, Quintana boasted 2260 hits, 1218 runs, 422 doubles, 534 home runs, 1407 RBI, a .293/.343/.568 slash, 151 wRC+, and 72.1 WAR. The accumulations aren’t at the top of the Hall of Fame leaderboard, but being the 24^th guy to 500 home runs helped. He was popular as well among fans both with Costa Rica, Salvador, and in his native Nicaragua. That helped solidify his case with the majority of the skeptical voters and Quintana received a first ballot induction at 86.3%.



Carlos De La Fuente – First Base – Chihuahua Warriors – 75.1% Sixth Ballot

Carlos De La Fuente was a 6’2’’, 180 pound left-handed first baseman from Aguascalientes, a city of around a million people in central Mexico. He was a well-rounded hitter with very solid contact skills and a great eye for drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. De La Fuente wasn’t a prolific home run hitter, but still added 25-30 per year. He had great gap power though and thrice was a league leader in doubles. Carlos had below average speed and played exclusively defensively at first ball, along with some starts as a designated hitter. De La Fuente was viewed as a slightly below average defender.

De La Fuente was a young draft pick, selected at age 19 by Chihuahua with the 6^th pick in the 1956 CABA Draft. He debuted at age 21, but saw very limited action in his first two seasons. He was worked into a pinch hitting role in 1960, then a part-time starter in 1961. De La Fuente stepped up big though in the 1961 postseason, getting 9 runs, 10 hits, 3 home runs, and 9 RBI in 12 games. The Warriors won the CABA Championship for only the second time and De La Fuente was Finals MVP. That run helped make him one of Chihuahua’s favorite players.

He became a full-time starter after that, leading in doubles twice, walks twice, average once, OBP thrice, wRC+ once, and WAR once. De La Fuente never won MVP, but took third in 1962, second in 1964, and third in 1967. Carlos won three Silver Sluggers (1963, 64, 67). He also played for Mexico in the World Baseball Championship, although usually as a backup. He played 69 games with 29 starts from 1962-73, posting 33 hits, 18 runs, 11 home runs, 31 RBI, and 1.2 WAR.

Although De La Fuente was steady and successful, Chihuahua declined as the 1960s progressed. They made the playoffs in 1962, but began a multi-decade drought after that and were below 60 wins by 1969. De La Fuente was one of the lone redeeming things of that era of Warriors baseball and would see his #21 uniform eventually retired. He had an unfortunate end to his run as he dealt with post-concussion syndrome from an off-the-field injury from late 1970 through mid-1971. In total with Chihuahua, De La Fuente had 1931 hits, 965 runs, 358 doubles, 294 home runs, 972 RBI, a .329/.398/.555 slash, and 72.4 WAR. Now 35 years old after the 1972 season, Carlos opted for free agency for the first time.

When he returned from the concussion, he still looked solid in 1971 and MLB’s Albuquerque gave him a four year, $1,304,000 deal. De La Fuente was decent with the Isotopes, playing two-and-a-half seasons with 324 hits, 165 runs, 51 home runs, 180 RBI, and 5.6 WAR. A fractured foot cost him part of 1974 and Albuquerque would cut him in the summer. He returned for 19 games that fall to Mexico with Queretaro. De La Fuente’s next step was an unexpected one, heading to the Pacific League on a two-year, $288,000 deal with Fiji.

Carlos had two solid seasons with the Freedom and even was All-Star game MVP at age 39 in 1976. With Fiji, he posted 9.0 WAR in two seasons with 302 hits, 141 runs, 46 home runs, and 139 RBI. De La Fuente came back to CABA and Puerto Rico signed him for three years, $1,036,000. He got to the 2000 hit, 1000 run, and 1000 RBI milestones in his one year with the Pelicans, but he was a borderline player in his one season there. He retired after the 1977 season at age 40.

De La Fuente’s entire pro career had 2714 hits, 1329 runs, 501 doubles, 407 home runs, 1356 RBI, a .307/.378/.514 slash, and 88.1 WAR. That’s a good run, but even altogether he’d be a borderline case. For just CABA, he had 2088 hits, 1021 runs, 384 doubles, 310 home runs, 1037 RBI, a .323/.392/.541 slash, 171 wRC+, and 73.5 WAR. Only three CABA Hall of Famers had a better career OBP and two of those were the legendary Kiko Velazquez and Prometheo Garcia. Still, De La Fuente’s totals were on the lower end and he remained outside of the HOF for his first five ballots. He gradually gained steam, starting at 53.1% and falling just short at 65.4% on his fifth attempt. The sixth one got him the push he needed and De La Fuente took his spot in the Hall of Fame with 75.1%.