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For the first time in its brief history, South Asia Baseball had a Hall of Fame class with multiple players in 2001. The Hall grew to eight total with the first ballot nods of RF Johar Rai (91.3%) and 1B Andee Siddharth (83.2%). Catcher Krish Balvinder barely missed out with 64.2% in his third attempt. Closer Jason Mayekar fell short in his tenth and final try with 58.1%. Also above 50% was LF Indirjeet Dayada at 51.9%.



For Mayekar, he peaked at 59.6% in 2000 and hovered around 40-50% most of the time. He was hurt by starting his career officially at age 28 and stepping away at age 34. Mayekar had only seven actual seasons, but led in saves five times and won Reliever of the Year once. He had 254 saves, a 1.72 ERA, 574.2 innings, 1038 strikeouts, 197 ERA+, and 29.3 WAR. With a longer tenure, his dominance likely gets him in.

Also dropped after ten ballots was Amardita Nidheesh, who only had seven official seasons as well. He peaked with his debut at 24.9% and ended at 10.6%. Nidheesh had 178 saves, a 1.52 ERA, 438 innings, 708 strikeouts, a 232 ERA+, and 23.9 WAR. Very impressive dominance but again over too small a sample size.



Johar “Pop” Rai – Right/Left Field – Ahmedabad Animals – 91.3% First Ballot

Johar Rai was a 6’3’’, 195 pound right-handed corner outfielder from Baripada, a city of 116,000 people in eastern India’s Mayurbhanj district. Rai was a very good home run hitter and a solid contract hitter. He had an above average eye for drawing walks, but a below average strikeout rate. Rai had a strong pop in his bat, averaging 41 home runs and 28 doubles per 162 games. As a baserunner, he was slow and uncoordinated.

Defensively, Rai made about 3/4s of his starts in right field with the rest in left. He was a below average defender due to poor range, but had a decent enough arm to not be a liability with his glove. Rai was incredibly durable, playing 138+ games in all but his final season. He was adaptable and worked hard, becoming an extremely popular early figure of Indian baseball.

Rai was a part of the very first rookie draft for South Asia Baseball and was one of the most coveted prospects. He was picked ninth overall by Mumbai, who made him a full-time starter right away. Rai didn’t have his full power in his first two seasons, although he was still a respectable slugger. He emerged as a true slugger in his fourth season with his first of five 50+ dinger efforts and his first of nine 100+ RBI seasons.

With the Meteors, Rai won Silver Sluggers in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987. He was third in 1984’s MVP voting, second in 1986, and third in 1987. Rai was the leader in home runs in both 1985 and 1986, posting a career best 58 in 1985. Rai had a career and league best 135 RBI in 1985. It would be 1987 that was his best season by WAR (9.4) and his only full season with a batting average above .300.

Despite his best efforts, Mumbai didn’t make the playoffs in his run. They did improve to post winning records by the end of his tenure. Rai also played for India in the World Baseball Championship from 1984-93 with 66 games and 43 starts. In the WBC, he had 39 hits, 24 runs, 9 home runs, 23 RBI, a .234/.348/.431 slash, and 1.4 WAR.

For his seven seasons with Mumbai, Rai had 1117 hits, 557 runs, 178 doubles, 287 home runs, 712 RBI, a .282/.349/.554 slash, 172 wRC+, and 45.7 WAR. By WAR, it was his most productive spot of his career, but Rai would be far more known and recognized for his second run. That began when he left for free agency after the 1987 at age 30. Rai moved across the division and inked a seven-year, $2,076,000 deal with Ahmedabad.

The Animals were coming off back-to-back SAB Championships, but their dynasty was only getting started. Rai played a big role in that, as they won 107+ games in each of his eight seasons in Ahmedabad. The Animals got to the ILCS each time and won additional SAB titles in 1989, 90, 91, 92, 94, and 95. Rai won Silver Sluggers in 1988, 89, 90, 92, and 94; giving him nine for his career.

His lone MVP came in the 1992 season at age 34. It was the only time he smacked 50+ homers with Ahmedabad, leading the Indian League with 53. Rai also had a career-best 110 runs and added 116 RBI and 8.7 WAR. The next year, Rai became the first player in SAB history to have 500 career home runs. He’d be joined three months later by teammate VJ Williams and the next year by teammate and Hall of Fame classmate Andee Siddharth.

Rai was a key playoff performer for those stacked Animals squads. In total, he played 104 games with 102 hits, 52 runs, 25 doubles, 18 home runs, 62 RBI, a .272/.329/.515 slash, 154 wRC+, and 4.1 WAR. His role on the dynasty made him an extremely popular player and associated him strongly with Ahmedabad, even if his most impressive statistical seasons came with Mumbai. Rai’s #3 uniform would eventually be retired by the Animals as well.

Rai’s contract expired after the 1994 season and Ahmedabad brought him back on a one year deal. He had still looked good in the prior years, but was moved to a bench and pinch hitting role. The 1995 squad won the title with a all-time best 124-38 record, beating 124-win Ho Chi Minh City in the final. Rai saw little use on the stacked roster, but still had a .308 average and 7 home runs in 52 at bats. He wanted to still play in 1996, but no teams were interested at his asking price. Rai retired that winter at age 38.

For his career, Rai had 2201 hits, 1159 runs, 386 doubles, 567 home runs, 1458 RBI, a .281/.345/.558 slash, 176 wRC+, and 89.7 WAR. At retirement, he was second all-time in home runs and RBI behind VJ Williams. Rai’s accumulations would slide down the leaderboards as SAB became a high offense environment in later years, but he was one of the first great sluggers and one of the many key pieces in the Ahmedabad dynasty, picking up six rings. Rai was an easy first ballot choice, getting 91.3% with the 2001 class.



Andee “Rattler” Siddharth – First Base – Ahmedabad Animals – 83.2% First Ballot

Andee Siddharth was a 6’2’’, 195 pound left-handed first baseman from Malaj Khand, a town with about 32,000 people in central India known for having Asia’s biggest open copper mines. Siddharth had prolific home run power that was graded as a 10/10 at his peak. He was merely an okay contact hitter and struggled with strikeouts, but his power profile allowed him to draw plenty of walks. Siddharth also got you around 30 doubles per year, but he wasn’t going to stretch out extra bases with his legs. He was an incredibly slow and lousy baserunner.

Siddharth was exclusively a first baseman, making every single start of his career there. He was a very good defender at the spot as well, winning three Gold Gloves in his career. Siddharth was very durable, playing 150+ games each year from 1985-94.

In the first SAB rookie draft in 1980, Siddharth was picked 11^th overall by Ahmedabad. While many greats of the era eventually joined the Animals during their dynasty, Siddharth was there from the start. He was picked as a 19-year old and wasn’t immediately thrown into the fire. Siddharth debuted with three pinch hit appearances in 1982 at age 20. He played 67 games in 1983, then was a full-time starter from 1984 onward.

By 1985, Siddharth’s home run power was apparent. He had six seasons with 50+ home runs, leading the Indian League four times. Siddharth also led in runs scored twice, RBI four times, and total bases twice. He won Silver Sluggers from 1987-90 and won Gold Gloves in 1985, 86, and 91. Siddharth also played sporadically for India in the World Baseball Championship from 1985-93, playing 39 games with 17 starts

In 1987, Siddharth became the new SAB single season home run king with 67 and the first to pass 150+ RBI with 153. He got 153 RBI again two years later and 66 home runs that year. Siddharth’s home run mark held until 1998 as the single-season best. 1989 also saw 131 runs scored and 9.9 WAR, earning Siddharth his only MVP. He was third in MVP voting in 1986, second in 1987, third in 1988, and second in 1994.

Ahmedabad’s dynasty kicked off officially in 1986 and Siddharth was a massive part of it. He won eight championship rings (1986-87, 89-92, 94-95). After the second title in 1987, Siddharth re-signed on a massive eight-year, $7,090,000 deal. He made history by winning SAB Championship MVP three times (1987, 89, 94). In 133 playoff games and 121 starts, Siddharth had 115 hits, 69 runs, 32 doubles, 38 home runs, 90 RBI, a .260/.335/.595 slash, 188 wRC+, and 6.5 WAR. As of 2037, Siddharth is still fifth all-time in playoff homers and sixth in RBI.

Siddharth became the third SAB batter to 500 career home runs, leading with 57 dingers and 113 in RBI. However, he declined significantly the next year, getting benched early in the season. Siddharth had a .168 batting average and was mostly a pinch hitter on Ahmedabad’s 124-win 1995 team. This was Siddharth’s eighth and final ring.

The Animals let him go after the 1995 season, making Siddharth a free agent for the first time at age 34. He wanted to still play and was extremely popular, but no team wanted to or could afford to commit to the big money he wanted. Siddharth went unsigned in both 1996 and 1997, but wasn’t officially retired until winter 1997. Ahmedabad would bring him back to retire his #13 uniform once he announced he was done.

Siddharth’s career stats saw 1613 hits, 1114 runs, 350 doubles, 561 home runs, 1302 RBI, .254/.333/.584 slash, 179 wRC+, and 75.1 WAR. Like Johar Rai, Siddharth was one of the first big boppers in South Asia Baseball. He was especially impressive in the playoffs and a key part in establishing the great Ahmedabad dynasty. Siddharth received 83.2% of the vote to earn a first ballot spot in the 2001 Hall of Fame class.