The final out of the last World Series the Cincinnati Reds won drifted into foul ground well behind first base, and the first baseman ran it down.
Todd Benzinger, the man who squeezed that popup, died on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, at 63. The Reds announced his death on Thursday, Oct. 22. No cause was given.
“Todd will be remembered with great affection and gratitude for his place in one of the most memorable chapters in Reds history,” the club said in a statement, which offered condolences to his family, friends and former teammates.
The Popup That Ended a Sweep
It happened on Oct. 20, 1990. Oakland’s Carney Lansford lifted a popup into foul territory, Benzinger ranged back behind the bag, and Game 4 was over.
The catch completed a four-game sweep of the heavily favored Athletics by a Reds team that had led the National League West wire to wire. That title is still the most recent one Cincinnati has won. Benzinger had platooned at first base that season with left-handed-hitting Hal Morris.
He Ended Hershiser’s Scoreless Streak
Boston traded Benzinger to his hometown Reds during the 1988 offseason. Early in his first season in Cincinnati, on April 5, 1989, his two-out RBI single ended pitcher Orel Hershiser’s record 59-inning scoreless streak.
That first season in Cincinnati was the best of his career at the plate. He set personal highs with 17 home runs, 76 RBIs, 79 runs and 161 games played, and his 628 at-bats led the National League.
A Hometown Kid’s Road to the Big Leagues
Born in Dayton, Ky., and raised in New Richmond, Ohio, Benzinger was taken by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 1981 MLB Draft out of New Richmond High School. He debuted in Boston in 1987, played there through 1988, then spent parts of three seasons with the Reds before Cincinnati dealt him to the Kansas City Royals midway through 1991. He finished with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 1995, retiring after that final season.
Across nine big league seasons he batted .257/.301/.386 with 733 hits, 66 home runs and 376 RBIs in 924 games. He made 622 appearances at first base and 192 in the outfield.
He Never Left Reds Country
Benzinger settled in the Cincinnati area after he stopped playing and kept showing up for the franchise: the Reds Caravan, Reds Fantasy Camp, the Reds Legends Remember program and Redsfest. Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame Museum, said Benzinger stayed close to the city and gave his time generously to the museum’s events and to fans.
He managed Class-A Dayton, then a Reds affiliate, in 2009 and 2010. Back home in New Richmond, he coached youth baseball.
Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, a Reds broadcaster who was Benzinger’s teammate for three seasons, said he had seen him at an event in Cincinnati over the summer and thought he looked well. “It’s kind of a shock out of nowhere,” Larkin told MLB.com.
Larkin said Benzinger had young children, and that his heart went out to the family.