Bruce Seid
Bruce Seid, a native of Oak Park who rose through the ranks at the front office of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team to become director of scouting, died unexpectedly Tuesday while visiting family in Las Vegas, including his 81-year-old mother.
He was 53. The cause of death was not immediately known.
His older brother Rick Seid, who played baseball at Oak Park High, Michigan State University and in the minor leagues, posted a note Thursday on Facebook: "We are devastated and heartbroken from the shock of this last 36 hrs."
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes that "Seid, a 17-year veteran of the Brewers' front office, was remembered fondly around baseball Wednesday for a tireless work ethic and a fierce dedication to his players, many of whom took to Twitter to express their regret."
Seid was a fourth-round draft pick for the Chicago Cubs out of Oak Park High School in 1980. He played infield for two years in the Cubs' system. He never made it to the pros, but certainly impacted baseball.
He scouted for the Padres and Pirates, joined the Brewers in 1997 and spent nine seasons as an area scout and two as a regional cross-checker before his promotion to director, ESPN reports.
"When I got the word yesterday, it was a real shocker," Jack Zduriencik, who worked with Seid before becoming the general manager of the Seattle Mariners, told MLB.com. "I was with him for nine years, and he made my job just a lot of fun. . . . A very moral person who carried himself with high standards. He was a hard worker. A lot of fun -- a lot of fun. Easy to laugh. Some of us were talking this morning about a lot of funny moments with Bruce. Just a really good human being."
-- Allan Lengel
