PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks will honor Joe Garagiola, Sr., in a special ceremony before Sunday's 1:10 p.m. game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Garagiola will broadcast two innings on FOX Sports Arizona before signing off the air one last time.
The D-backs will honor Garagiola throughout the game and will show him signing off the broadcast on FOX Sports Arizona alongside D-backs current broadcasting team Bob Brenly and Steve Berthiaume live on dbTV after the fourth inning. Throughout the game, FOX Sports Arizona will feature tributes from fellow broadcasters who have worked with Garagiola throughout his career, including Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Thom Brennaman, Rod Allen, Jody Jackson and Todd Walsh.
FOX Sports Arizona will show the pregame ceremony live during the “Diamondbacks Live” pregame show and will air the Emmy Award-winning “In My Own Words – Joe Garagiola” twice on Sunday: At 12:30 p.m., before the pregame show, and immediately after the postgame show. In addition, fans are encouraged to tweet congratulations to Garagiola throughout the game, using the hashtag #ThankYouJoeG for a chance to be shown on FOX Sports Arizona and on dbTV.
Garagiola announced his retirement from broadcasting on Feb. 20 after serving 15 seasons as a color analyst on select D-backs broadcasts on FOX Sports Arizona. He has served 58 years in broadcasting and was inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2009, the D-backs renamed the broadcast wing of the press box, as well as the home broadcast booth, at Chase Field in Garagiola’s honor with a 50-foot timeline of his career, appropriately named the “Joe Garagiola Broadcast Wing and Booth.” Last season, the D-backs and Garagiola dedicated a field in his honor in Flagstaff as part of the D-backs “Diamonds Back” field building program.
Garagiola made his Major League debut in 1946 with his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals. He enjoyed a nine-year Major League career as a catcher with the Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants. At age 29, Garagiola retired as a player and turned to broadcasting, calling games for the Cardinals, New York Yankees and California Angels. He also enjoyed an eight-year stint as a panelist on NBC’s “Today” (1967-73, 1990-92). In addition to calling three All-Star Games, three National League Championship Series and three World Series, Garagiola was featured on NBC’s Saturday “Game of the Week” for 15 years (1974-88), alongside Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek and Vin Scully.
