The Big Lead

Rob Menschel, part of Vin Scully's last broadcast team, passes away

By J.P. Hoornstra

Oct 2, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Hall of Fame Baseball Player Willie Mays and Vin Scully during the game with San Francisco Giants against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park. Rob Menschel is pointing the camera at the two Hall of Famers.
Oct 2, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Hall of Fame Baseball Player Willie Mays and Vin Scully during the game with San Francisco Giants against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park. Rob Menschel is pointing the camera at the two Hall of Famers. / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
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Rob Menschel wasn't a household name. But for the last 28 years of Vin Scully's career, he was part of Scully's crew while the Hall of Fame broadcaster spoke into the households of a generation of Los Angeles Dodgers fans.

Menschel died at age 59, FanDuel Sports Network announced Friday.

The regional sports network interrupted its broadcasts of the Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Clippers games Friday night to deliver the news that Menschel, a veteran director, camera operator and lighting director, had passed away.

Mark Gubicza, the Angels' color analyst, also wrote a tribute to Menschel on his Twitter/X account Saturday.

"Rob was the absolute best in the business," Gubicza wrote. "We shared many laughs and even a few dances. I’ll cherish our friendship for the rest of my life. Love and prayers to his beautiful family. RIP Rob"

According to his LinkedIn profile, Menschel's career began in 1989. For the next 28 years, he worked with Scully, even as the Dodgers' regional television home changed hands often. When Scully broadcast the final game of his 67-year career with the Dodgers on Oct. 2, 2016, Menschel was behind a camera in the visitors' broadcast booth at AT&T Park.

Menschel was among the men behind the scenes whose research contributed occaional factoids to Scully's broadcast.

“If it’s out of left field, I probably had something to do with it,” Menschel told the Los Angeles Times in a 2016 interview.

Menschel, a New York native, made many more behind-the-scenes contributions to the Dodgers' broadcasts with Scully. Per Variety, he prepared the booth, set up the lighting, using color filters to match the cameras on the field, in addition to his research duties.

Scully passed away at age 94 in 2022.

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