Houston Astros

Epy Guerrero — super scout who helped open Dominican baseball pipeline — dies at 71

In 1989, baseball scout Epy Guerrero was profiled in People magazine. Yep, the same People magazine that does the "Sexiest Man Alive" lists and keeps the world up to date on Angelina Jolie. That should tell you that Epy Guerrero wasn't just any ol' baseball scout. People's 1,900-word feature story sums him up perfectly in the third paragraph:

They say now that Epifanio "Epy" Guerrero has "the eyes"—that he can see the future major leaguer in a young ballplayer the way the visionary poet claimed to see a world in a grain of sand.

Guerrero, whose claim to baseball immortality was opening a baseball pipeline to the Dominican Republic, died Thursday at age 71. He opened the Dominican Republic's first baseball academy in 1973 and worked as a scout for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. In Toronto, specifically, he was revered for bringing the Jays stars such as Tony Fernandez, Carlos Delgado and George Bell.

It is believed, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, that Guerrero signed more amateur players who reached the majors than any other scout. Among them: Cesar Cedeño, Kelvim Escobar, Alcides Escobar, Alfredo Griffin, José Mesa and José Uribe.

Blue Jays blog Bluebird Banter relays just how important Guerrero was:

[He] should be largely credited with building the rosters anchored by Dominican talent that led to Toronto finishing above .500 for from 1983 through 1993 and winning two World Series titles on the way.

Here's a story for the ages: Guerrero really liked a young pitcher and told Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash, who sent pitching expert Mel Queen for a second opinion. Queen wasn't as impressed, so the Jays passed. The pitcher? Pedro Martinez.

That's one story recounted in a 2012 Toronto Sun interview with Guerrero. Another is how Guerrero talked the Blue Jays out of trading Jose Bautista, another case where he was right.

“Epy’s family is a baseball-rich family, probably the top from the Dominican in scouting,” Bautista told the Toronto Sun last year.

Manny Acta, the former Cleveland Indians and Washington Nationals manager, who is also a native of the Dominican Republic, talked to the Houston Chronicle on Thursday about Guerrero's impact in their home country.

“Very sad day for baseball, specially in the DR. Epy Guerrero was more than just a great scout, he was also an excellent human being and visionary. He was one of the first ones to implement the current baseball academies system, that has helped produce so many great MLB players from the DR.”

Here's another video that gives you a glimpse at Guerrero at work. It's in Spanish, but even if you can't understand the words, the visuals are in the universal language of baseball:

Epy Guerrero's baseball lineage lives on with his two sons — Mike, who manages the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, and Sandy, who played 19 seasons in the minor leagues, Mexico and Taiwan. He's now a hitting instructor in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Baseball is back. Don't miss anything.
Follow @MikeOz and @bigleaguestew, on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page.

• Thu May 23, 2013 6:19 pm EDT
• Big League Stew
• Mike Osegueda
• Comment

Gross! Houston Astros vendor fired after bringing snow cone tray into toilet stall

;

When history looks back on the Reid Ryan era as president of the Houston Astros, no doubt it will fondly recall the first public action Nolan Ryan's son took as head honcho:

Ryan had a snow cone vendor fired — he was an employee of Aramark — for bringing the product into a toilet stall at Minute Maid Park during an Astros game earlier this week.

The vendor was caught with his pants down around his ankles — literally — by a good Samaritan who also happened to be using the bathroom at the time. The whistleblower switched on his cell phone to record the shocking moment, and alerted another ballpark employee (who was walking into the men's room) to the vendor's behavior. The fan also demanded to see a supervisor, adding, in an unintentionally hilarious moment:

"That's realtalk."

The amateur investigative reporter — clearly the star of the 59 second clip, even though we only hear his voice — shared the video with NBC Channel 2 in Houston, who released it to the public and investigated further. In the clip, the door on the stall is closed, but looking under you clearly can see a person sitting on the toilet with a tray of snow cones (perhaps three of them had been unsold) on the ground next to him.

It might have been better to return the cones to the pantry first, or even throw them away, if the urge was so urgent. Place them on a sink? The baby changing table? Just not on the ground. But hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

And Ryan agreed, so he relieved the person of his snow cones forever:

“This being your first game. Your first day on the job. What was going through your head when you heard what happened?” Local 2’s Bill Spencer asked Ryan.

“Well, right away, I just thought, ‘We gotta let this guy go. There is no doubt about it.' That was my decision,” Ryan told Spencer.

Ryan said that snow cone vendor was fired immediately.

When asked what the ball park could do to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, Ryan responded: “I don’t think there is anything you can do to make sure human beings don’t make mistakes. What you can do is make sure all employees are trained and that our policies are followed."

And that's how it goes from top to bottom. My question: When does the whistleblower get a network news gig?

Baseball is in full swing! Interact with @AnswerDave, @MikeOz, @Townie813and@bigleaguestew on Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page!

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Veteran White Sox trainer Herm Schneider is team's secret weapon
• MLB Power Rankings: Cards now atop the deck
• Adam Jones and O's teammates wear ‘Canadian Tuxedos’ on trip to Toronto

• Thu May 23, 2013 10:36 am EDT
• Big League Stew
• David Brown
• Comment

Astros' Power Surge Goes For Naught, Fall to A's 11-5

Oakland bangs out 18 hits, rough up Harrell early to take second game of series

• Sat May 25, 2013 EDT
• The Crawfish Boxes
• By leistomania409

Oakland Athletics (26-23) at Houston Astros (14-34), 7:10 pm (CT)

Astros attempt to turn the page on late-inning loss.

• Sat May 25, 2013 EDT
• The Crawfish Boxes
• By D_more55

2013 MLB Draft Profile- Tyler Danish, RHP, Durant HS (FL)

Tyler Danish is one of the more unique pitching prospects you will ever come across. Is he a legitimate high end arm in a deep class of prep arms?

• Sat May 25, 2013 EDT
• The Crawfish Boxes
• By kyuss94

UPDATED: 2013 MLB Draft Profile- Robert Kaminsky, LHP, St. Joseph's Regional HS (NJ)

A final look at one of the MLB draft's top high school arms.

• Sat May 25, 2013 EDT
• The Crawfish Boxes
• By kyuss94

A Look Back at the Rookie All-Star Bill Dawley

Bill Dawley, the Astros only rookie All-Star, book-ended his career with some patriotic dates.

• Sat May 25, 2013 EDT
• The Crawfish Boxes
• By astrosblogger