Phil Rizzo, Nationals scout and GM's father, dies at 90

Phil Rizzo, a Hall of Fame scout who spent the last 11 years serving as senior advisor to his son, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, died Friday night. He was 90.

Over a scouting career that spanned more than five decades, Phil Rizzo worked for nine different franchises and was credited with signing future big leaguers including Brandon Webb, Mike Matheny, Bob Wickman, Mark Loretta, Bob Kipper and Dick Schofield (Jayson Werth's uncle).

In 2008, Phil Rizzo was named one of eight members of the inaugural class of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame.

One year later, he was hired by his son to serve as senior advisor to the GM, a job title he held for the last 11 seasons. The position was hardly ceremonial; Phil Rizzo was a regular presence at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field in his hometown of Chicago during the baseball season and would spend his offseasons in Phoenix scouting prospects in the Arizona Fall League and Cactus League spring training games.

Unable to travel last season, Phil Rizzo remained home in Chicago during the Nationals' postseason run. After his team won Game 7 of the World Series, Mike Rizzo's first call was to his father. "Dad, we did it!" he recalled opening the conversation later that evening, tearing up at the thought.

"My dad is totally responsible for where I'm at today," Mike Rizzo said. "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."

Born in Chicago in November 1929, Phil Rizzo was a former minor league player and boxer who supported his family driving a truck for the city while also scouting part-time. Though he encouraged his son's early playing career, he was the one who bluntly told the struggling infielder in the Angels' farm system he wasn't good enough to reach the majors and advised him to go back to school.

Mike Rizzo became an assistant coach at the University of Illinois, where he earned his degree and began his own career as a professional scout. The two would eventually work together for the Diamondbacks from 1999-2005, with son serving as scouting director and father as a special assignment scout.

Mike Rizzo came to the Nationals as assistant GM in 2006, and after ascending to the baseball operations department's top position in 2009, he hired his father to help out. The two spoke near-daily, with Phil Rizzo never afraid to offer harsh thoughts on the team when things weren't going well but happier to share warm vibes after victories, none bigger than the last one he watched.

"He made me the happiest father in the world," Phil Rizzo told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this winter. "He did something that I was supposed to do, but I didn't get it done. ... I'm so happy, you have no idea."