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The Bolivar League had Caracas, Bogota, and Lima each win division titles for the third consecutive season. The Colts and Bats extended playoff streaks to four years, while the defending Copa Sudamerica champ Lobos earned a Beisbol Sudamerica record 11^th consecutive postseason berth. Caracas had the top overall seed at 105-57 in the Venezuela Division. Bogota secured the Colombia-Ecuador Division at 97-65, while Lima picked up the Peru-Bolivia Division at 92-70. Medellin was the wild card at 89-73, topping last year’s wild card Valencia by five games. The Mutiny secured a fifth playoff berth of the 1990s.

Caracas 1B Milton Becker won his second Bolivar League MVP. The 28-year old Venezuelan slugger led in home runs (56), RBI (139), total bases (413), slugging (.680), OPS (1.088), wRC+ (196), and WAR (9.5). Pitcher of the Year was Lima’s Pacheta Castaneda. The 29-year old Peruvian was the WARlord (8.4) and leader in strikeouts (314), innings (298), WHIP (0.92), quality starts (30), and complete games (16). Castaneda added a 2.48 ERA and 18-15 record.

Wild card Medellin upset Caracas 3-1 in the Divisional Series, while defending champ Lima survived in five over Bogota. This sent the Mutiny to the Bolivar League Championship Series for the fifth time in a decade and sent the Lobos to their sixth in the same stretch. It was only the second time they had met in the BLCS though in that run with radically different results between them. Lima had gone 4-1 in their appearances, while Medellin was 0-4. The trend continues as the Lobos rolled to a sweep to repeat as Bolivar League champ and earn their fifth pennant of the 1990s.



Recife had the Southern Cone League’s best record for the fourth consecutive season. The Retrievers earned the North Division at 103-59. Defending league champ Asuncion and Santiago both made the playoffs again, although they switched spots in the South Central Division. The Archers were first at 98-64 and the Saints were the wild card at 91-71. This was only the second-ever division title for Asuncion (1939). In the Southeast Division, Montevideo (91-71) outraced Sao Paulo (88-74), and Buenos Aires (86-76). This earned the Venom a second playoff appearance in four years. Prior to this run, Montevideo had only a single playoff appearance in Beisbol Sudamerica’s first six decades.

Asuncion center fielder Marc Pierleoni picked up Southern Cone MVP. The 26-year old Uruguayan lefty led in runs (106), triples (21), and total bases (373). Pierleoni added 38 home runs, 107 RBI, a.317 average, and 9.6 WAR. His Archers teammate Aaron Casas was Pitcher of the Year as the 27-year old Paraguayan won the ERA title at 1.86 and led in wins at 24-2. Casas added 307 strikeouts in 237.1 innings and had 7.3 WAR.

Recife stopped Santiago 3-1 in the Divisional Series and Asuncion outlasted Montevideo 3-2. The Retrievers earned a third Southern Cone Championship appearance in four years, back after having missed the prior year. Meanwhile, the Archers were the underdog hoping to repeat on the road. In a seven-game thriller, the first since 1991, Asuncion topped Recife to take repeat pennants.



Copa Sudamerica hadn’t seen a rematch since Valencia and Sao Paulo battled back-to-back in 1976 and 1977. In the 68^th final, Lima again denied Asuncion’s bid to take the Cup to Paraguay for the first time. The Lobos won it 4-3 for the sixth-ever Copa Sudamerica repeat, joining Recife (1995-96), Valencia (1977-78), Caracas (1959-60), Buenos Aires (1941-42), and La Paz (1939-40). Veteran 1B Vincent Sandez stepped up in the playoffs, winning finals MVP and BLCS MVP. The 34-year old had 23 hits, 15 runs, 8 homers, and 20 RBI in 16 payoff starts. Lima was now a three-time champ, having also won the Cup in 1968.



Other notes: Andres Ramirez became the 12^th pitcher to 250 career wins and the 27^th to 4000 strikeouts. RF Ariando Abarca won a tenth consecutive Gold Glove. SS Jose Luiz Velasquez became a seven-time winner.