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Joe Garagiola, the former baseball player, folksy broadcaster and father of WDIV's Steve Garagiola, died Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., at age 90.
Joe Garagiola
His local son posts a touching tribute on Facebook:
If you’re a longtime sports fan, you probably know the name Joe Garagiola. He was many things to many people. He was the son of Italian immigrants, born and raised in St. Louis. He was a major league baseball player who won his World Series ring in 1946 as a catcher with the Cardinals. He was a broadcaster for more than fifty years who eventually earned two spots in the halls of Cooperstown.
He was a long time co-host of the Today Show who traveled the world meeting popes and presidents. He was a good man who adopted St. Peter’s Indian Mission on the Gila River Reservation in Arizona working to give those children a fair shot at a good life. He was all those things… and also my dad. If he held one idea as a central belief in the way he lived his life, it was to always try your best, and that he did no matter what the challenge. Dad — We love you. We’ll miss you.
Richard Goldstein of The New York Times writes that after "nine forgettable seasons in the major leagues as a weak-hitting catcher," Garagiola "then parlayed his witty tales of life as a baseball underachiever into a far more notable career as a folksy broadcaster and television personality."
See Major League Baseball's announcement
