Venezuelan bust, baseball boom : Andrés Reiner and scouting on the new frontier / Milton H. Jamail.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jamail, Milton H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reiner, Andrés, 1935-.

Reiner, Andrés.

Houston Astros (Baseball team).

Baseball--Scouting--Texas--Houston.

Baseball.

Baseball--Scouting--Venezuela.

Baseball--Scouting.

Venezuela.

Texas--Houston.

Physical Description:

x, 257 pages, 13 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2008]

Summary:

Though Venezuela is sandwiched between two soccer-mad countries-Brazil and Colombia-baseball is its national pastime and passion. Yet until the late 1980s few professional teams actively scouted and developed players there. This book is about the man who changed all that and brought Venezuela into Major League Baseball in a major way.

While other teams were looking to the Dominican Republic for new talent, Houston Astros' scout Andres Reiner saw an untapped niche in Venezuela. This book recounts how, over the next fifteen years, Reiner signed nearly one hundred players, nineteen of whom reached the majors. The stories of these players-among them Bobby Abreu, Johan Santana, Melvin Mora, Carlos Guillen, and Freddy Garcia-are interwoven with Reiner's own, together creating a fascinating portrait of a curious character in the annals of sports and a richly textured picture of the opening of Venezuela as baseball's new frontier. Countless interviews broaden and deepen the story's insights into how the scouting system works, how Reiner worked within it, and how his efforts have affected the sport of baseball in Venezuela and the significance of Venezuela in the world of Major League Baseball.

Contents:

Venezuelan bust, baseball boom : Mr. Reiner's dream

It's their game too : the origins of baseball in Venezuela

The Astros go south : scouting in Latin America

From zero to prospect : the Astros' academy

From Tunapuy to Guacara : the search for the new El Dorado

On the road to El Dorado : scouting on the frontier of baseball

A dream come true : ten years at the academy

Maracuchos y gochos : scouting in Maracaibo and the Andes

The talent search expands : scouting in Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, and beyond

Refining the product : the Venezuelan summer league

Foreigners at their own game : welcome to the Astros' minor league system

What happened? where did the prospects go?

Good-bye to the Astros : Andrés's farewell tour

Andrés's dream and the future of the Astros in Venezuela

Epilogue.

Notes:

"A Bison original"--P. 4 of cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-257).

ISBN:

0803215711

9780803215719

OCLC:

163813076