Venezuelan Bust, Baseball Boom: Andres Reiner and Scouting on the New Frontier

Contents

Contents preface ix 1 Venezuelan Bust, Baseball Boom Mr. Reiner’s Dream 1 2 It’s Their Game Too The Origins of Baseball in Venezuela 14 3 The Astros Go South Scouting in Latin America 37 4 From Zero to Prospect The Astros’ Academy 50 5 From Tunapuy to Guacara The Search for the New El Dorado 63 6 On the Road to El Dorado Scouting on the Frontier of Baseball 77 7 A Dream Come True Ten Years at the Academy 93 8 Maracuchos y Gochos Scouting in Maracaibo and the Andes 107 list of illustrations vii 9 The Talent Search Expands Scouting in Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, and Beyond 124 10 Refining the Product The Venezuelan Summer League 143 11 Foreigners at Their Own Game Welcome to the Astros’ Minor League System 161 12 What Happened? Where Did the Prospects Go? 177 13 Good-bye to the Astros Andrés’s Farewell Tour 198 14 Andrés’s Dream and the Future of the Astros in Venezuela 211 15 Epilogue 229 acknowledgments 241 appendix 245 notes 247 bibliography 253 ...