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2003 marked the second league expansion for the Central American Baseball Association, which last added teams in 1962. Two squads were added to the Mexican League with another two to the Caribbean League, giving both leagues two divisions with eight teams apiece. In Mexico, the San Luis Potosi Potros joined the North Division and the Cancun Captains were added to the South Division.

The Caribbean League had been unbalanced since the prior expansion with eight teams in the Island Division and six in the Continental Division. It was harder to find markets that could host teams in the Caribbean, but officials wanted to balance things out. They looked to South America by adding the Guyana Golden Knights and Suriname Silverbacks. Although in SA, the small countries of Guyana and Suriname are considered culturally Caribbean. Beisbol Sudamerica hadn’t shown much interest in expanding to either spot, which prompted CABA to take the opportunity.



The other big change coming with the expansion was an expanded playoff. Previously, the two division winners and one wild card advanced. A second wild card was added, setting up a new first round with best-of-fives hosted by the division champs. The LCS and CABA Championship maintained its format.



Ecatepec, winners of the Mexican League in four straight seasons, had the best record again. The Explosion were 105-57, winning the South Division for the eighth year in a row. Torreon won the North Division for the second time in three years, taking it at 103-59. Both wild cards came out of the North with Monterrey (96-66) and Juarez (92-70). It was a nine game drop from the Jesters to the next closest foe. The Matadors’ CABA record playoff streak grew to 16 seasons, while Juarez earned a third berth in four years.

Mexicali CF Iwan Valen won his second Mexican League MVP in three years. He won his fifth Gold Glove and posted 14.06 WAR, the second-most ever by a CABA position player just behind Prometheo Garcia’s 14.18 in 1949. Valen led in RBI (143), total bases (449), and slugging (.752). The 26-year old Curacaoan also had 210 hits, 121 runs, 57 home runs, a .352 average, 1.148 OPS, and 232 wRC+.

Pitcher of the Year went to Ecatepec veteran Vicente Chung. The 33-year old Brazilian became a two-time winner, having also taken it all the way back in 1996. Chung led in wins (22-5), ERA (2.26), WHIP (0.82), and K/BB (11.8). He had 6.9 WAR over 251.1 innings with 294 strikeouts, falling nine Ks shy of a Triple Crown.

The division champs prevailed in the first round of the playoffs with Ecatepec over Juarez 3-1 and Torreon edging Monterrey 3-2. This set up a rematch of the 2001 Mexican League Championship Series. The Explosion continued their dynasty, earning a fifth straight pennant by topping Torreon 4-2. Ecatepec became the third franchise to five-peat in the ML, joining Mexicali (1950-54) and Mexico City (seven-peat from 1967-73).



The top seed in the Caribbean was Honduras at 110-52 atop the Continental Division. The Horsemen won a third straight division title with their sixth straight playoff berth. After seeing their eight-year streak snapped in 2002, Salvador took the first wild card at 103-59. Two-time defending CABA champ Haiti was 104-58 to win a seventh consecutive Island Division title.

The shocker was expansion Suriname taking the second wild card at 97-65, 11 games better than the next closest. The Silverbacks were the first squad in pro baseball history to earn a playoff spot as an expansion team. Only two others had posted a winning season in their debut (EPB’s Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd both debuted at 84-78).

Leading Suriname was Caribbean League MVP Corneles Menendez. The 30-year old first baseman signed a three-year, $9,240,000 deal with the Silverbacks after a prior run with Guadalajara. Menendez led in runs (113), home runs (67), RBI (158), total bases (431), and slugging (.700). The 158 RBI was the third-most in a season and the homers were the fourth-best. Menendez also had 7.2 WAR, a .312 average, and 1.054 OPS. Suriname also had Rookie of the Year Sendy Gutierrez with 4.1 WAR.

After a three-year gap between wins, Salvador’s Rafael Perez won his fifth Pitcher of the Year. The 35-year old Dominican led in ERA (2.46) and quality starts (26). He added a 21-8 record, 267 strikeouts over 270.2 innings and 7.6 WAR. Perez became the fourth CABA pitcher to win five or more Pitcher of the Year awards, joining Junior Vergara, Mario Benitez, and Ulices Montero. He also became the 24^th pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts and the 44^th to 200 wins.

Top seed Honduras ended the magic run for Suriname with a first round playoff sweep. Salvador upset Haiti 3-2 to end the Herons’ hopes at a four-peat. The Stallions got their first Caribbean League Championship Series since their 1994-99 streak of appearances, while the Horsemen earned their fourth berth in five years. Honduras prevailed 4-2 over their divisional foe Salvador for their first pennant since 1993. The Horsemen secured their 15^th pennant, the most of any franchise.



Despite the historical successes of Honduras and Ecatepec, they had never met in the Central American Baseball Association Championship. The 93^rd finale saw a sweep for the Horsemen for their seventh title (1926, 40, 42, 58, 63, 93, 03). After winning it all in 1999 and 2000, the Explosion have now been defeated in three straight finals. Veteran SS David Davila was finals MVP with 13 hits, 3 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 3 RBI in 12 playoff starts. Honduras’ Fidencio Encinas set a playoff record with nine saves. He had a 0.59 ERA over 15.1 innings with 22 strikeouts



Other notes: Hugh Boerboom became the first-ever member of the 800 home run club in CABA. He would play two more seasons and retire with 866. Boerboom held onto the HR king spot until the late 2020s. Adrian Tovar became the fourth to 3500 hits and the fifth to 700 home runs. He would play one more season and finish with 3723 hits, falling short of Prometheo Garcia’s all-time mark of 3871. Haiti’s Alphanso Keyes had a 33-game hit streak, five short of the CABA record. Jacky Castillo was the 21^st to 1500 career RBI. SS Rafino Piloto won his eighth Gold Glove.