Major League Baseball's Joe Garagiola Is Dead

Joe Garagiola, who spent nine forgettable seasons in the major leagues as a weak-hitting catcher and then parlayed his witty tales of life as a baseball underachiever into a far more notable career as a folksy broadcaster and television personality, died on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 90.

Major League Baseball announced his death.

Garagiola was propelled from the catcher’s box into the broadcast booth largely by his crowd-pleasing appearance before a United States Senate subcommittee on monopoly practices in April 1954. At the time, he was playing for the Chicago Cubs.

The committee chairman, Senator Edwin Johnson of Colorado, had sponsored a bill to make corporate ownership of baseball teams illegal and was targeting one of Garagiola’s former teams, the St. Louis Cardinals, who were owned by the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Garagiola, who was near the end of his playing career, had been looking for a radio job in St. Louis. Because the advertising agency working on his behalf also represented the brewery, Johnson suggested that the Cardinals were guilty of “tampering” by improperly trying to lure him from the Cubs.

“Senator, how can you tamper with a .250 hitter?” Garagiola said.

His testimony, laced with the self-deprecation and irreverence that would become his trademarks, attracted enthusiastic press coverage and earned him a broadcasting job with the Cardinals.

He went on to be a colorful broadcaster for NBC, which also made him a host of the “Today” show and a game-show personality, always recognizable by his bald head and broad smile.

Cubs 16, Giants 14

Jake Arrieta left the game in the first inning with a blister and Madison Bumgarner left in the fourth as the Chicago Cubs outlasted the San Francisco Giants 16-14 on Thursday night.

The four-hour game had a combined 33 hits, three each by the Cubs Dexter Fowler and the Giants Joe Panik.

Kris Bryant drove in three, Fowler, Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo each had a pair of RBI for the Cubs.

Hunter Pence hit his sixth homer and drove in a pair. Denard Span and Angel Pagan each drove in two runs. Matt Duffy, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt also drove in runs.

Arrieta recorded one out and gave up five runs before departing with a blister on his right thumb. Bumgarner allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Nationals 8, Cardinals 2

Max Scherzer outpitched Adam Wainwright in a matchup worthy of opening day, and the Washington Nationals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Thursday.

Scherzer struck out nine and walked three in five innings, allowing two unearned runs and three hits.

In typical Scherzer fashion, he was more concerned about the three walks, saying he was "inefficient" against the Cardinals lineup.

"When you're walking three guys, that's just inexcusable," Scherzer said. "I think I fell behind quite a few guys as well. That's just something I know I have control over. I've got to be better at pounding the zone and being in those 1-2 counts and not being in those 2-1 counts.

"It's something that can be easily fixed. At the same time, you've got to like where all of my pitches are at, how everything's moving. It's something I can build off of."

Angels 6, White Sox 5

Mike Trout hit a three-run homer and C.J. Cron had a solo shot off Chris Sale in the sixth inning as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 Thursday.

Sale started with scoreless innings before the Angels tagged the lefty ace.

Angels reliever Tyler Skaggs, making his Cactus League debut, gave up one run in two innings. He hasn't pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014.

"It went better than my expectations, to be real with you," Skaggs said.

The left-hander indicated he's felt up-and-down this spring, but, "Today I felt great. I feel very happy with myself that I put in the hard work, put in the time. I didn't cut any corners."

"Tyler looked like he didn't skip a beat," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He looked really sharp this afternoon. A good starting point for him."

Jimmy Rollins hit his fourth spring homer and Brett Lawrie had a two-run drive for the White Sox.

Thursday, March 24 Scoreboard

Baltimore 6, Pittsburgh 5

Boston 4, New York Mets 1

Washington 8, St. Louis 2

Minnesota 8, Miami 4

Toronto 6, Detroit 4

Houston 8, New York Mets 5

Los Angeles Angels 6, Chicago White Sox 5

Milwakee 9, Kansas  city 2

Texas 12, Cincinnati 5

Arizona 9, San Diego 8

Seattle 10, Colorado 8

Philadelphia vs. Atlanta, canceled

Tampa Bay 6, New York Yankees 2

Chicago Cubs 16, San Francisco 14

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Cleveland 5

Texas 12, Oakland 1

Friday, March 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at New York Mets, 11 a.m.

New York Yankees at Baltimore, 11:05 a.m.

Atlanta at Detroit, 11:05 a.m.

Houston at Atlanta, 11:05 a.m.

Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 11:05 a.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, 2:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 2:05 p.m.

Colorado at Cincinnati, 2:05 p.m.

Kansas City at San Francisco, 2:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 2:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Arizona, 2:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Boston, 4:05 p.m.

Toronto at Philadelphia, 4:35 p.m.

Washington at Miami, 5:05 p.m.

San Diego at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

San Francisco at Los Angeles Angels, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Boston at Baltimore, 11:05 a.m.

Pittsburgh at Minnesota, 11:05 a.m.

New York Mets at Atlanta, 11:05 a.m.

Detroit at Philadelphia, 11:05 a.m.

Washington at St. Louis, 11:05 a.m.

New York Yankees at Toronto, 11:07 a.m.

Cincinnati at Chicago White Sox, 1:05 p.m.

Oakland at Kansas City, 2:05 p.m.

Arizona at Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

San Francisco at Chicago Cubs, 2:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Cincinnati, 2:05 p.m.

San Diego at Los Angeles Angels, 2:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Seattle, 2:10 p.m.

Texas at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

Miami at Houston, 4:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m.

Houston at San Diego, 7 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles, 8:05 p.m.    

Sunday, March 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Boston     11:05 a.m.

Houston at Detroit, 11:05 a.m.

Minnesota at New York Yankees, 11:05 a.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 11:05 a.m.

St. Louis at Miami, 11:05 a.m.

Toronto at Tampa Bay, 11:05 a.m.

Washington at New York Mets, 11:10 a.m.

Houston at San Diego, 1 p.m.

Milwaukee at Cleveland, 2:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Oakland, 2:05 p.m.

Arizona at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Seattle at Chicago Cubs, 2:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Los Angeles, 2:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at San Francisco, 2:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at San Diego, 2:10 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 2:10 p.m.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m.