Andrés Reiner

Andres Reiner

• Born November 16, 1935 in Hungary
• Died August 3, 2016

Biographical Information

Andres Reiner was a noted scout.

Born in Hungary, he moved to Venezuela in 1946, when he was 11. The son of a soccer player, he played soccer as a youth before losing his leg in an accident. After moving to Venezuela, he took up baseball, pitching as his prosthesis did not let him play other positions well.

As a scout, he spent 17 years with the Houston Astros, focusing on Venezuela. He founded the Astros' Venezuelan academy in 1989, the first Venezuelan academy. He had tried pitching such an approach to three other teams, starting in 1983, but all passed. He signed Johan Santana, Raul Chavez, Fernando Nieve, Hector Gimenez, Felipe Paulino, Juan Gutierrez, Wladimir Sutil, Jhonny Medrano, Arcenio Leon, Carlos Quevedo and Amadeo Zazueta. He then spent six years as a special assistant to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, focusing on expanding their work in Venezuela, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. He retired in 2011 at age 76 then passed away five years later.

Related Sites

• BA article
• Obituary (in Spanish)