St. Louis native Joe Garagiola, who was a 20-year-old catcher on the 1946 Cardinals World Series championship team and went on to a long career in broadcasting with the Cardinals, NBC and the Arizona Diamondbacks among others, died in Phoenix at age 90, the Diamondbacks announced Wednesday.
On the “Hill” in St. Louis, Garagiola grew up with and was a long-time friend of New York Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, who died last year. Garagiola’s son, Joe Garagiola, Jr., is the former general manager of the D-backs and the Major League Baseball senior vice president of standards and on-field operations.