Phil Rizzo, an inaugural member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame and the father of Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, died Saturday. He was 90.
“My dad is totally responsible for where I’m at today,” Mike Rizzo said in a statement. “Not only the way he brought me up in baseball, but that he gave me the love of the game, and we worked out hard together for me to become a good player. He taught me how to work hard, be aggressive, go after what you want and get it done.”
Phil Rizzo’s baseball career lasted more than 50 years. Since 2009, he served as a senior adviser to his son and the rest of the Nationals’ baseball operations department.
After a playing career in the minor leagues, he became a full-time scout for the California Angels. He went on to work as a scout for nine different teams and was part of World Series-winning years with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2001) and the Nationals (2019) — both shared with his son.
A cause of death was not given.
Mike Rizzo on the passing of his father: pic.twitter.com/HSFfAL8SiV
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 1, 2020
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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