LOS ANGELES ― Mike Brito, who scouted Fernando Valenzuela and Julio Urías in a career with the Dodgers spanning more than four decades, passed away Thursday evening. He was 87.
In 1978, Brito was hired as a scout by then-Dodgers general manager Al Campanis, who had managed Brito when he was a catcher in his native Cuba. Brito discovered Valenzuela, a teenage pitcher from the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, in his first year on the job. Brito was still actively scouting for the Dodgers at the time of his death.
Over the years, Brito was responsible for scouting and helping to sign generations of Mexican-born pitchers for the Dodgers: Ismael Valdes, Joakim Soria, Urías and Victor Gonzalez. He also helped facilitate the Dodgers’ signing of pitcher Bobby Castillo, a Los Angeles native, and outfielder Yasiel Puig.
“I have no words,” Puig wrote on his Twitter account. “You changed my life Mike Brito. You and your white hat, sir. #legend #RIP”
Brito was in Mexico in June 2012 to scout Puig, a heralded international amateur who had recently defected from Cuba. During the same scouting trip, he and Dodgers executive Logan White scouted and ultimately signed Urías and Gonzalez, both of whom became integral members of the current pitching staff.
For a generation, the mustachioed Brito was an iconic fixture behind home plate at Dodger home games, wearing a stylish suit and a Panama hat while pointing a radar gun toward the pitcher’s mound. After radar guns were automated, Brito maintained a regular presence at Dodger Stadium behind the scenes. Still wearing his signature hat and sunglasses, Brito attended games in person as recently as last month.
Born in 1934 in Cuba, Brito was a talented catcher who played three seasons of minor league baseball in the United States (1955-57) after leaving his native country. After retiring as a player, Brito established himself as an amateur coach and player in Los Angeles, where he moved in 1962.
Brito was a truck driver for RC Cola when one of the players in his amateur league, Castillo, showed promise. He recommended Castillo to Campanis, and the right-hander ultimately parlayed his screwball into a nine-year major league career – six with the Dodgers.
Finding Valenzuela was a bit harder.
Brito was in Silao, Mexico, scouting an amateur shortstop when he first saw Valenzuela pitching for the opposing team. Valenzuela was dominant. He finished the game with 12 strikeouts. “I couldn’t believe he was only 17,” Brito told Sports Illustrated in 1981.
Valenzuela debuted with the Dodgers at age 19 in Sept. 1980. The following year, he won the National League Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young Award. Valenzuela was so young and so new to the country, Brito would often drive him to and from Dodger Stadium.
“My heart is very heavy,” Valenzuela, who works as a broadcaster for the team, said in a statement issued through 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.”
In October 2016, when Urías became the youngest pitcher ever to start a playoff game at age 20, Brito told the Southern California News Group that Urías’ poise as a 15-year-old reminded him of Valenzuela’s.
“He looked so calm on the mound,” Brito said of Urias. “I think he’s born with that. Fernando was born with that. If he gets nervous, he never shows that he’s nervous.”
Brito was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named international scout of the year at Major League Baseball’s 2014 Winter Meetings. Last year, he received the Tony Gwynn Award from Baseball America for his contributions to the game.
He is survived by his wife, Rosario, and daughters Diana and Minerva.
“My heart goes out to him and his family,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He impacted the Dodger organization for decades. I learned a lot from him, talking about players, and just seeing the game. It doesn’t matter where on the map there was a baseball game or there was a potential prospect. Mike was willing to be there and put his eyes on them. He’s going to be missed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.