LOS ANGELES – Mike Brito, the great Los Angeles Dodgers scout who discovered Fernando Valenzuela and Julio Urias, has died, the team announced Thursday afternoon.
He was 87 years old.
Brito – a distinctive look with his panama hat, thick mustache, dark sunglasses, long cigar and heavy radar gun – has worked with the Dodgers for the past 44 years, helping to bring in star players that have resonated for generations.
All told, Brito signed more than 30 players to play in the major leagues, including Urias, Yasiel Puig, Ismail Valdez, Antonio Osuna, Juan Castro, Denis Reyes and, in particular, Valenzuela, who were banned from the region as Mexicans. -Birth pitcher who won the Sai Young Award and led the Dodgers to the 1981 championship.
“My heart is heavy today,” Valencuela said in a statement. “Mike was a great man and he played a big part in my success as a baseball player on and off the field. No one likes Dodgers more than Mike, and we’ll all miss him. “
He is survived by his wife Rosario, two daughters, Diana and Minerva, and four grandchildren. Funeral services are still pending, Dodgers said.
Originally from Cuba, Brito played in the minor league system of Washington senators and played professionally in Mexico in the 1960s. He moved to LA in 1968, formed a relationship with the Dodgers as a Mexican League scout, and in 1978 was hired full-time by then-general manager Al Campanis and began running for six different decades.
Brito was nominated for the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named International Scout of the Year in 2014 at the Major League Baseball Winter Meeting. The publication Baseball America honored him with a lifetime contribution to the sport by awarding him the Tony Gwen Award last year. ,