Joe Garagiola (born Joseph Frank Garagiola, Jr.) is a former professional baseball player who was widely known as a pitcher and a broadcaster. He played for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants in a 15-year MLB career. He was the first base coach for the Yankees, Giants and Baltimore Orioles. His broadcasting career began with a local Chicago television station from 1952 to 1956
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In 1957 he joined NBC as a sportscaster, and became known as "The Voice of Baseball".
In 1968 he joined the broadcast team of the Cincinnati Reds, remaining there for five years before joining the New York Yankees as a color commentator from 1972 to 1976. After leaving baseball he served as a color commentator for NBC's Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts from 1977 to 1982. He then retired from broadcasting after the 1982 season and began a second career as a motivational speaker and author.
Joe is one of only three pitchers to have won 20 games in a single season four times (the others being Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera) and is also known for his distinctive speech patterns which helped make him an iconic broadcaster during his playing days.
In 2006 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He is currently an analyst on NBC Sports' Sunday Night Baseball telecasts with Joe Morgan.
