It would likely be incorrect to say that the death of Joe Garagiola Sr. in March came as a shock. As you’d expect of a man in his late eighties, his health had been increasingly playing him up, dating back to 2009 brain tumor. In September 2015, he didn’t make the trip to New Jersey for the funeral of his life-long friend Yogi Berra, who inspired one of Garagiola’s best-known lines: "Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn't even the best catcher on my street!" But even at age 90, it was still a hugely unwanted loss, of a man who had been part of the Arizona Diamondbacks family since the very beginning.
The Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016 - #5: A farewell to Joe
