Baseball Legend, Arizona Diamondbacks Broadcaster Joe Garagiola Sr. Dies

Joe Garagiola Sr. passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 90, according to a statement from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Garagiola played nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants.

Garagiola Sr., a resident of Paradise Valley, announced he would be retiring from broadcast booth in February 2013. At the time, he spoke about how some things in baseball have changed while other aspects have remained exactly the same.

“Baseball, it hasn’t changed much. You’ve still got to hit the ball, you still have to catch it. And good players will win, and bad players will lose. You know, winners win and losers make excuses. It’s as simple as all that," said Garagiola Sr.

Garagiola Sr. and Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra were lifelong friends who grew up across the street from each other in a heavily Italian St. Louis neighborhood, each the son of immigrants. Berra died last year at the age of 90.

During a 2013 interview, Garagiola Sr. reminisced on conversations he had with childhood friend and teammate.

“When we were growing up we would ask, ‘What do you want to be?’ And I said what I want to do, I want to do three things. I want to meet a pope. I want to sleep in the White House. And the last one, I wanted to go to the Hall of Fame. Well, after I saw some of those guys that were in the Hall of Fame, I said, ‘Well Joe, the only way you’re going to the Hall of Fame is buy a ticket, pal. Because it’s the only way you’re going to get in,’” he said.

Eventually, Garagiola Sr. did meet a pope; he met President Gerald Ford; and he did get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a broadcaster in 1991 and was awarded the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Garagiola Sr.'s son, Joe Garagiola, Jr., is an Major League Baseball executive and former Diamondbacks executive.