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Romolo Mendez – Right/Center Field – Santa Cruz Crawfish – 83.7% First Ballot

Romolo Mendez was a 5’11’’, 200 pound left-handed outfielder from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia’s largest city with around 1,780,000 inhabitants. Mendez was a quite good contact hitter that was excellent at working counts and drawing walks. Despite that, his strikeout rate was middling. Mendez was a powerful bat who hit 30+ home runs in 11 different seasons. His gap power was respectable as well with 25 doubles and 9 triples per his 162 game average. Mendez had above average to good speed on the basepaths and was generally a positive contributor with his legs.

Mendez made about 2/3s of his starts in right field and about 1/3 in center field. He graded as a pretty good defender in right, even winning a Gold Glove in 1989. His range was too poor for center, where he generally was considered lousy. Mendez always worked very hard, becoming one of Bolivia’s most popular players. He had excellent durability, allowing Mendez to hold a starting role even well into his 40s.

When he was a kid in Santa Cruz, the city didn’t yet have a Beisbol Sudamerica changed. That changed with the Crawfish debuting with the 1974 season. They struggled initially and held the #1 overall pick for the 1978 BSA Draft. It so happened that a hometown kid with a ton of potential was waiting there for them. Santa Cruz picked Mendez first overall, hoping the local hero could deliver the franchise its first success.

Mendez was a beloved player who did great for the Crawfish, but one man couldn’t make them a contender. The Crawfish remained a bottom rung franchise his whole tenure, not posting their first winning season until after he was gone in 1991. Still, Mendez gave his heart and soul to his hometown as a full-time starter for a decade. He was great from the jump, winning 1979 Rookie of the Year honors.

Mendez would win six straight Silver Sluggers from 1980-85. He was third in 1980 MVP voting, second in 1982, second in 1983, third in 1984, and second in 1985. Being on bad teams likely preventing Mendez from earning the top award. He led the Bolivar League four times in OPS, thrice in slugging twice in total bases, twice in runs, once in both home runs and RBI, and thrice in wRC+. Mendez’s Silver Slugger run also had six consecutive seasons worth 6.8 WAR or better.

Mendez was also a beloved figure for all of Bolivian baseball, making 190 appearances and 188 starts from 1978-2000 in the World Baseball Championship. He posted 169 hits, 116 runs, 34 doubles, 53 home runs, 106 RBI, 115 walks, a .258/.374/.566 slash, 166 wRC+, and 8.8 WAR. As of 2036, he’s Bolivia’s all-time WBC leader in games, runs, hits, doubles, walks, and offensive WAR.

Santa Cruz gave Mendez an eight-year, $4,872,000 contract extension after the 1982 season. While he certainly lived up to his end of the deal, the Crawfish seemed no closer to contention. Mendez had an opt-out option after the 1988 campaign and used it, While the franchise and fans were disappointed, they understood his decision and he remained a beloved figure in the city. His #5 uniform would ultimately be the first retired by the squad.

Coming up on his age 33 season, Mendez had worldwide offers and ended up moving to the United States. MLB’s Atlanta Aces gave him a five-year, $8,900,000 deal. He won a Gold Glove in his first year with Atlanta, but otherwise wasn’t an award winner or league leader. Still, Mendez was quite strong for the Aces, posting 7.0 WAR in 1991. Injuries started to plague him, missing a few weeks each season. Eventually, Mendez missed almost half of 1992 to a herniated disc.

This was in the middle of Atlanta’s eight-year division title streak from 1987-94. The Aces made the American Association Championship Series three straight years from 1990-92, but could never get over the hump. Mendez’s playoff stats were unremarkable with a .227/.306/.371 slash and 77 wRC+. His overall totals in four years for Atlanta were quite solid with 19.9 WAR, 133 wRC+, a .277/.372/.523 slash, 492 hits, 348 runs, 105 home runs, 94 doubles, and 336 RBI.

He didn’t reach the vesting criteria for the fifth year in his Atlanta contract, becoming a free agent for 1993 at age 37. Mendez was an established pro though and got a two-year deal worth $4,480,000 with Nashville, who had seen him up close as a divisional rival of Atlanta. Mendez went to Chicago in 1995 and posted a 4.2 WAR season for the Cubs. After that, he had two seasons with Memphis, but looked merely okay there. He had 0.6 WAR and a 96 wRC+ with the Mountain Cats.

Mendez returned to South America in 1998 with Bogota and had a respectable season as a starter with 2.6 WAR. That earned him one more look in MLB in 1999 as he returned to Nashville. Between his stints with the Knights, Mendez had 378 hits, 223 runs, 76 home runs, 211 RBI, a .261/.346/.471 slash, 119 wRC+, and 6.9 WAR.

He was still playable in 1999 despite being 43 years old. Mendez played in the 2000 WBC for Bolivia, but couldn’t find a suitor for the season. He retired that winter at age 45. For his MLB stints, he had 1211 hits, 783 runs, 194 doubles, 254 home runs, 734 RBI, a .257/.348/.478 slash, 123 wRC+, and 31.6 WAR.

In Beisbol Sudamerica with Santa Cruz and Bogota, Mendez had 1780 hits, 982 runs, 261 doubles, 113 triples, 371 home runs, 1006 RBI, 686 walks, 576 stolen bases, a .317/.393/.603 slash, 169 wRC+, and 66.2 WAR. At that point, only four BSA Hall of Famers had a career OPS better than Mendez’s .996. He still ranks ninth as of 2037 among HOFers. Still, there were a few voters who dinged him for leaving BSA early and never getting a playoff appearance with Santa Cruz.

Mendez’s full pro numbers were 2991 hits, 1765 runs, 455 doubles, 625 home runs, 1740 RBI, 1322 walks, 745 stolen bases, a .290/.372/.546 slash, 148 wRC+, 97.9 WAR. That full tally belongs in any Hall of Fame, plus being the first star for a new franchise was a plus. As of 2037, he’s still the only inductee with Santa Cruz as his primary team. Mendez got 83.7% to earn a first ballot spot in the 2004 Beisbol Sudamerica Hall of Fame class.



Caco “Candy” Gallegos – First Base – Fortaleza Foxes – 78.2% First Ballot

Caco Gallegos was a 6’0’’, 200 pound switch-hitting first baseman from Bosconia, Colombia; a municipality of roughly 43,000 people in the country’s northern Cesar Department. Gallegos was one of the all-time great contact hitters who put the ball into play with remarkable frequency. He was outstanding at avoiding strikeouts, but very rarely drew walks.

Gallegos wasn’t going to get you many home runs, but his gap power was excellent. He regularly averaged around 30-40 doubles and 25-35 triples per season. Gallegos had pretty good speed and was a talented base stealer. That hitting profile doesn’t scream “first baseman,” but that is where Gallegos played pretty much exclusively. He graded out as a reliably good to sometimes great defender. Injury issues did cost him some playing time at points. Gallegos also could be his own worst enemy and wasn’t well liked by many teammates, often called selfish and dumb. Still, he was a remarkably talented pure hitter.

Gallegos was spotted by a Fortaleza scout and signed in January 1981 as a teenage amateur. He officially debuted in 1983 at age 19 with 36 games and 12 starts. The Foxes kept him back in developmental in 1984, but made him a full-time starter in 1985 and 1986. 1985 saw 36 triples, leading the Southern Cone League for the first time.

Fortaleza ended an eight-year playoff drought in 1987, falling in the Southern Cone Championship. However, Gallegos was relegated to a bench role most of the season despite batting .433 in his limited use. He reclaimed the starting job the next season and held it from there, beginning an impressive stretch of league-leading statistics. Fortaleza would give him an eight-year, $13,360,000 extension midway through 1990.

From 1988-95, Gallegos led the league in hits six times, runs once, doubles four times, triples six times, total bases once, stolen bases thrice, batting average six times, OBP thrice, OPS once, and wRC+ once. He also had six seasons with 6+ WAR, winning Silver Sluggers in 1990, 1991, and 1994. It wasn’t easy to win the award at first base with a career high of 10 homers in season. Gallegos also was second in 1989 MVP voting and third in 1991. He would finally win MVP in 1994 at age 30..

Gallegos had a .394 batting average in 1989, which was the second-best single-season mark at that point. He did set the BSA record with 257 hits, which remained the record until 2018. That season still sits third and his 253 hits in 1994 is fifth all-time as of 2037. Gallegos’ 124 stolen bases in 1989 was also a single-season record until 1996 and sits fourth-best as of 2037.

Gallegos had 41 triples in 1990, tying the single-season record. This still holds as the top mark as of 2037 with Gallegos holding five of the top ten triples seasons. His 55 doubles in 1994 was one short of the single-season record and still sits third best as of 2037. In 1993, Gallegos had a .404 average, but didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify as the league leader. He missed the second half of that season to a ruptured Achilles. In 1989, Gallegos had a 35-game hit streak, which was the second-longest to that point.

Fortaleza made the playoffs again but were one-and-done in 1989. After missing the field from 1990-93, the Foxes won the Southern Cone Championship in 1994. Gallegos was the LCS MVP, although they would lose to Quito in Copa Sudamerica. In 29 career playoff games, Gallegos had a .361/.371/.541 slash, 44 hits, 15 runs, 13 extra base hits, and 171 wRC+.

1995 would be Gallegos’s last great season. He missed half of 1996 to a torn meniscus and never returned to form after that. Gallegos remained rostered for the next two years, but was essentially just a pinch hitter with only 20 starts over 191 games. Gallegos decided to retire after the 1998 season at age 35. Fortaleza would immediately retire his #10 uniform.

Gallegos had 2396 hits, 1019 runs, 400 doubles, 340 triples, 61 home runs, 784 RBI, 978 stolen bases, a .363/.384/.554 slash, 175 wRC+, and 75.0 WAR. He didn’t have the longevity to dominate the accumulation leaderboards despite his big seasons. Still, he was third in triples at retirement and still sits fifth as of 2037. Gallegos was also the all-time batting average leader until finally passed in a much higher-offense Beisbol Sudamerica in the 2030s. Among Hall of Famers though as of 2037, he is the batting average leader.

Still, these accolades didn’t make him a true lock for some voters. There were those who poo-poo’d the lack of home run power, especially at first base. Others thought he was a bit of a jerk. Enough recognized his impressive peak though and gave Gallegos the first ballot nod at 78.2%. One of BSA’s finest-ever contact hitters was a solid way to round out an impressive 2004 Hall of Fame class.