Mike Brito, talent scout for Dodgers, dies
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mike Brito, the top scout in Mexico for the Los Angeles Dodgers, for nearly 45 years, who discovered such talents as Fernando Valenzuela, current Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías and Yasiel Puig, died, Thursday. He was 87.
The team announced his death to the crowd and held a moment of silence before hosting the Chicago Cubs. Photos of Brito and his discoveries were shown on the stadium’s videoboards. He died at a Los Angeles hospital. No cause of death was provided.
For years, the mustachioed Brito was instantly recognizable behind home plate dressed in a stylish suit and a Panama hat with a cigar clenched in his teeth holding a radar gun. More recently, he used a cane in concession to his age as he observed the current Dodgers from the press box.
Brito had a connection to the club’s most recent World Series championship, won after the pandemic-shortened, 2020 season. In the deciding Game 6 against Tampa Bay, Victor Gonzalez was the winner and Urías earned the save. Both Mexican-born pitchers were signed by Brito, who remained part of the team’s scouting staff until his death.
“I learned a lot from him talking about players and just seeing the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“It doesn’t matter where on the map there was a baseball game, if there was a potential prospect, Mike was going to be there and put his eyes on him.”
Before gaining rare international notoriety for someone in the scouting profession, Brito played in the Washington Senators’ minor league system, from 1955-61. He reached the Triple-A level and played professionally in Mexico, from 1961-66.
Born in Cuba, Brito moved to Los Angeles, in 1968. Through his work as a scout in the Mexican League he became associated with the Dodgers and then-general manager Al Campanis, who hired Brito full-time, in 1978. The first played he signed was pitcher Bobby Castillo.
In 1979, Brito convinced Campanis to sign Valenzuela, who became the most successful Mexican-born pitcher in major league history. He won rookie of the year and the NL Cy Young Award while leading the Dodgers to a World Series title, in 1981.
“My heart is very heavy,” said Valenzuela, who works as a broadcaster for the team. “Mike was a great man and instrumental in my success as a baseball player on and off the field. No one loved the Dodger organization more than Mike and we will all miss him very much.”