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The 2003 Central American Baseball Association Hall of Fame class featured three inductees. The star was easily 1B/DH Romeo Verguet, the lone first ballot pick at 87.7%. 3B Pedro Pizarro joined him, finally making the cut after eight tries with 73.4%. SP Gabe de Kroon was the third guy, just crossing the 66% requirement with 68.8% on his fifth go. The only other player above 50% was 3B Bienvenido Ramon at 56.8% for his third ballot. The CABA ballot didn’t have any players dropped after ten tries and apart from Pizarro, the most tenured players were on their sixth ballots.



Romeo Verguet – First Base/Designated Hitter – Bahamas Buccaneers – 87.7% First Ballot

Romeo Verguet was a 6’0’’, 205 pound right-handed hitting first baseman from Saint-Pierre, Martinique. In modern times it is a small town with only 4,000. In the late 1800s, it was called the “Paris of the Caribbean” and was the cultural capital of Martinque, but sadly the town was destroyed in a 1902 volcanic eruption. Verguet would be the first and as of 2037 only CABA Hall of Famer from the island. He’d also be only the second player inducted with the Bahamas Buccaneers as his primary team.

Verguet was a solid contract hitter that had strong power, averaging around 30-40 home runs and around 25-35 doubles per season. He was above average at drawing walks, but his strikeout rate was subpar. Verguet was also slow and sluggish on the basepaths. He made around 3/5s of his career starts at first base, where he graded out as a poor defender. Logically, the rest of his starts were as a designated hitter.

Verguet’s strong bat certainly was deserving of a prominent spot in the lineup. He became a popular player both for his bat and for his fan favorite personality. Verguet was an affable fellow who worked hard and showed strong leadership and loyalty. He also was viewed as an ironman, playing 140+ games in all but his final pro season.

Although Martinique’s baseball scene was underdeveloped compared to most of its Caribbean neighbors, scouts still took notice of Verguet as he dominated the amateur ranks. When the 1981 CABA Draft came around, Verguet was selected seventh overall by Bahamas. At that point, the Buccaneers had been around two decades since expansion and largely stunk with no playoff appearances and only two winning seasons. They hoped that Verguet might be the guy to help turn things around.

The team’s fortunes didn’t flip at all in the early 1980s, but that was hardly Verguet’s fault. He was a full-time starter immediately and took second in Rookie of the Year voting. Verguet was solid in his first few seasons, but wasn’t truly elite level until his fifth year. That season, he led the Caribbean League in runs, hits, RBI, total bases, average, and OBP. He smacked 40 home runs with 6.6 WAR, posting career bests in hits, total bases and average. Verguet earned his lone MVP and his lone Silver Slugger with this effort.

That also earned Bahamas a new franchise best 90-72 season, their first winning year since 1973. The Buccaneers still missed the playoffs, but they would finally get their first-ever playoff berth and division title in 1987. However, Havana upset them in the wild card round. Verguet again led in RBI and hit 41 home runs with a career high 6.7 WAR. Early in 1988, Bahamas would commit to their fan favorite with an eight-year, $11,240,000 extension.

Verguet would also earn some popularity in the World Baseball Championship. He played for France from 1983-93, as Martinique is part of the French Republic. In 113 games and 108 starts, Verguet had 92 hits, 52 runs, 16 doubles, 29 home runs, 5 9 RBI, a .229/.300/.490 slash, 127 wRC+, and 3.2 WAR.

Verguet remained largely solid over his big contract, although he didn’t win any additional awards with tough competition at DH and 1B. He would lead in doubles with 43 in 1991. In total he had seven seasons with 100+ RBI, nine seasons with 30+ homers, and four seasons worth 5+ WAR with the Buccaneers. Despite his efforts, Bahamas peaked with their playoff berth in 1987, dropping back to the mid-tier for the remainder of his run.

After the 1993 season, Verguet was coming up on age 35 and entering the last year of his deal. To the chagrin of many Bahamas fans, the franchise traded him and young OF Fernando Raya to Santo Doingo for pitchers Cecil Estrada and Cesar Uribe. Verguet’s #7 uniform would later be retired by the Buccaneers and he’d serve as a franchise icon after retiring. In total with Bahamas, Verguet had 2076 hits, 1027 runs, 356 doubles, 412 home runs, 1280 RBI, a .291/.342/.522 slash, 139 wRC+, and 50.4 WAR.

Santo Domingo was hoping to bounce back after seeing a four-year playoff streak snapped in 1993. It worked, as they won the Island Division, but fell in the CLCS to Salvador. Verguet had a career-best 108 runs and matched his career-best with 41 home runs. The Dolphins were happy with the results and signed Verguet to a three-year contract worth $5,700,000. He would ultimately finish his career in the Dominican capital.

Verguet again hit 41 homers in 1995. He dropped a bit in 1996, then was merely average in 1997 and missed five weeks to a sprained thumb. Santo Domingo only made the playoffs once more in 1997 with Verguet, falling in the wild card round. He decided to retire after the 1997 campaign at age 38. With Santo Domingo, Verguet had 557 hits, 330 runs, 87 doubles, 145 home runs, 350 RBI, a .269/.324/.535 slash, 130 wRC+, and 12.3 WAR.

The final stats for Verguet saw 2633 hits, 1357 runs, 443 doubles, 557 home runs, 1630 RBI, a .286/.338/.525 slash, 137 wRC+, and 62.7 WAR. His poor defense and baserunning hurt him in some metrics, but Verguet had important counting stats like 500+ dingers, 1500+ RBI, and 2500+ hits. He was well liked and was the reliable face of a franchise, making the struggling Bahamas team more competitive than they usually were. These facts earned Verguet a first ballot nod at 87.7% to headline the 2003 CABA class.