Joe Posnanski at his Joe Blogs newsletter wrote about 10 people he would immediately put into the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. Vin Scully, who topped the list, won the Ford C. Frick Award in 1982 and was inducted into Cooperstown, but Posnanski explains the Hall of Fame as an institution does not recognize such inductees as actual Hall of Famers, as they are not recognized in the plaque room.
Posnanski also advocated for Janet Marie Smith, currently the Dodgers executive vice president of planning and development, saying “she changed the way we watch baseball.” More Posnanski on Smith:
Janet Marie Smith was an urban planner with no baseball experience, but Lucchino hired her to direct the design of what would become Camden Yards. And she brought a vision to life of a ballpark that was old and new at the same time, a place that was somehow distinctive and yet felt like it had been in Baltimore for a hundred years. Camden Yards is a miracle. And every ballpark constructed since then — all twenty-two of them — has merely been an effort to replicate that miracle.
Speaking of Dodger Stadium, Smith was interviewed as part of an Architectural Digest video profile of the Los Angeles landmark now 65 seasons into its history.
Todd Benzinger, the first baseman and corner outfielder who played for five teams in his nine major league seasons, died on Wednesday at age 63. He played in 1992 for the Dodgers, and the switch-hitter started 13 of the first 38 games that season at first base in a time share with rookie Eric Karros and a gimpy-kneed Kal Daniels. By the last week of May, Karros took over first base for good, and Benzinger’s remaining starts came in right field and left field.
Benzinger in 1992 hit .239/.272/.348 with a 76 wRC+, 16 doubles, and four home runs in 121 games and 313 plate appearances. Mark Langill at Dodger Insider remembered Benzinger’s brief time with the Dodgers.
Dan Szymborski at FanGraphs reviewed manager Dave Roberts postseason, something the site has done after each team has been eliminated this season.