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Two players were added in 2004 to the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame. On his third try, reliever Harini Shreenath led the way at 79.0%. SP Saddam Khan earned a first-ballot addition, albeit barely at 67.6%. The only other player above 50% was LF Indirjeet Dayada at 55.9% for his fourth try.



Dropped after ten tries was SP Ratanpreet Nagpal, who had a ten-year run with three teams. He had a 136-96 record, 3.42 ERA, 2187 innings, 2139 strikeouts, 107 ERA+, and 31.4 WAR. It was a nice career, but certainly lacking both the longevity and dominance needed to get the nod. Nagpal debuted at 13.3% but only went down from there, ending at 4.9%.



Harini Shreenath – Relief Pitcher – Kolkata Cosmos – 79.0% Third Ballot

Harini Shreenath was a 5’11’’, 195 pound right-handed relief pitcher from Balangir; a district with around 1,700,000 people in southeastern India. Shreenath had incredible movement on his pitches with good stuff and respectable control. He had a 96-98 mph sinker with a remarkable drop that he countered with a knuckle curve.

Shreenath had good stamina and was an excellent defensive pitcher. Shreenath was also unique in being a relief pitcher that was a decent batter. He was never used in a two-way role, but he had a .200/.273/.367 career slash. He was a hard worker, but some thought he was a bit of a doofus.

Shreenath was picked early in the second round of the 1982 SAB Draft, chosen 31^st overall by Kolkata. He debuted in middle relief in 1983, but earned the closer role in his second season. He held that spot for six years with the Cosmos and led the Indian League in saves three times. Shreenath won three Reliever of the Year awards (1985, 88, 89). He also took second in 1986 and third in 1987.

In 1989, Shreenath set the SAB single-season record with 52 saves. This remains the all-time mark and would only get matched once in 2001. Arguably, Shreenath’s best year was the year prior with career highs in ERA (0.84), strikeouts (134), and WAR (4.3). Kolkata made the ILCS in 1989, but fell to the Ahmedabad dynasty. That was Shreenath’s only playoff appearances with the Cosmos, allowing two runs in 7.1 innings.

With Kolkata, Shreenath had 247 saves and 277 shutdowns, a 1.69 ERA, 602 innings, 742 strikeouts, 175 walks, 202 ERA+, and 19.7 WAR. Shreenath also pitched for India in the World Baseball Championship from 1985-97. In 35 innings, he had a 4.37 ERA, 47 strikeouts, 22 walks, 84 ERA+, and 0.5 WAR.

After the 1989 season, Shreenath entered free agency for the first time at age 28. Many of the teams in the early days had financial issues and couldn’t add big free agents like the dynasties of Ahmedabad and Ho Chi Minh City. Thus, Shreenath was unsigned for 1990 and enjoyed a brief sabbatical. He wanted to get back in the game and the Animals added him for one year in 1991.

Shreenath led the Indian League in saves that year and earned a championship ring with the Animals; their third straight. He was a free agent again and didn’t play in 1992, but Ahmedabad brought him back for 1993. Shreenath was third in Reliever of the Year that season, but the Animals five-peat bid was thwarted by Kanpur. He had a 2.41 ERA, 69 saves, and 214 strikeouts in 145.2 innings with the Animals and 5.4 WAR.

Shreenath again sat out for a season, missing the 1994 campaign. Ho Chi Minh City signed him to a two-year, $1,380,000 deal. He saw limited use with the Hedgehogs in those two years with five saves, a 2.00 ERA in 67.2 innings, 77 strikeouts, and 1.0 WAR. Shreenath was a free agent again in 1997 and retired that winter at age 36.

Shreenath ended with 321 saves and 367 shutdowns, a 1.84 ERA, 815.1 innings, 1033 strikeouts, 229 walks, 183 ERA+, 63 FIP-, and 26.1 WAR. His ERA was the best of any SAB Hall of Famer, although his innings, WAR and strikeouts are the lowest. He was the first reliever to 300 career saves. Three Reliever of the Year Awards was an impressive accomplishment as well.

However, the lower accumulations hurt him with some voters. Some felt any reliever to earn the honor needed more innings, Ks, and saves. Shreenath missed the cut in his first two ballots with a debut at 64.1% and second ballot at 60.8%. On his third try, Shreenath received a big boost up to 79.0% to become the first closer added into the South Asia Baseball Hall of Fame.



Saddam Khan – Starting Pitcher – Visakhapatnam Volts – 67.6% First Ballot

Saddam Khan was a 5’11’’, 185 pound right-handed pitcher from Nagaluru, a city of roughly 620,000 on India’s southwestern coast. Khan was known for having great movement on his pitches with solid stuff and average control. Khan had a 96-98 mph fastball along with a great slider, good curveball, good splitter, and rare changeup. His stamina was on the lower end among SAB aces. Khan was incredibly scrappy, known for his sparkplug work ethic and adaptability.

Khan was a highly touted prospect and was picked eighth overall in the 1985 SAB Draft by Visakhapatnam. He was a full-time starter immediately and pulled off the incredibly rare feat of winning Pitcher of the Year as a rookie. He had a remarkable 1.44 ERA, which was the SAB single-season record for a starter until 2009. As of 2037, this is still the second-lowest in SAB history. Despite this effort, he was actually second in 1986 Rookie of the Year voting to Kanpur RF Kyu-Jin Jeong, who did get 7.0 WAR and a 196 wRC+.

Khan never had a year that amazing again and wasn’t ever a POTY finalist again. He would lead in quality starts twice and K/BB once, but otherwise wasn’t a league leader either. All six of his seasons with the Volts were above 5+ WAR.

Visakhapatnam had four division titles in Khan’s run, although the Ahmedabad dynasty was in place by that point to deny that. The Volts made the Indian League Championship Series in both 1990 and 1991, but fell both times to the Animals. Khan had a 2.27 ERA over 47.2 playoff innings with Visakhapatnam, striking out 51 with a 143 ERA+.

Khan entered free agency after the 1991 season. Coming up on his age 29 season, Khan joined up with Ho Chi Minh City on a six-year, $5,520,000 deal. His first season with the Hedgehogs was pretty good, but he was closer to average after that with diminished innings due to his weaker stamina and small injuries. HCMC continued their Southeast Asia League dominance, winning four pennants during Khan’s run. In 1997, after going 0-6 in their previous SAB Championships, the Hedgehogs finally won it all.

By that point, Khan had been moved to a relief role, taken out of the rotation full-time in 1996. His playoff stats were mixed with Ho Chi Minh City, posting a 3.88 ERA over 53.1 innings, 48 strikeouts, and 92 ERA+. With HCMC he had a 67-33 record, 3.19 ERA, 896 innings, 931 strikeouts, 112 ERA+, and 16.0 WAR.

Soon to be 35 years old, Khan was a free agent for the second time. He went to the other side of the dynasty rivalry with Ahmedabad, tossing 70.1 innings with a 2.56 ERA. He tossed 1.2 scoreless playoff innings and earned his second ring as the Animals took the 1998 title against HCMC. Khan retired that winter at age 35.

Khan finished with a 162-88 record, 2.67 ERA, 2312 innings, 2527 strikeouts, 584 walks, 222/297 quality starts, 28 complete games, 127 ERA+, and 50.8 WAR. He had an odd career considering his record-setting rookie year. Khan wasn’t dominant beyond that and had a relatively short prime. He didn’t stick around too long, leading to low accumulations compared to later Hall of Famers.

Khan’s rate stats were good and he was generally a popular player. With SAB’s Hall of Fame still quite young, it was hard to figure out the bar for induction. Khan debuted in 2004 at 67.6%, which just crossed the line for a first ballot induction.