VALENCIA, Venezuela - The most important man in Venezuelan baseball is a stooped 69-year-old with a peg leg, a bald pate and a penchant for aphorisms, which he delivers in a thick Hungarian accent.
But if Andres Reiner is more Yoda than Yogi, that's not all he is.
''He's a genius,'' said author Milton Jamail, who is writing a book on the Houston Astros scout and visionary.
''He is,'' Minnesota Twins scout José Leon concedes, ``the pioneer.''
And in one house high in the Venezuelan Andes, Reiner is considered nothing less than a deity, a man entrusted with the vision and power to alter the future.
''He changed my whole life,'' said the Minnesota Twins' Johan Santana, who came to Reiner as a lead-footed outfielder and left as a pitcher who would go on to win a Cy Young Award. ``He was the one that made it happen.''