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Born in St. Louis in 1926, Joe Garagiola grew up on Elizabeth Street, across from the home of future Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. He had Berra were only months apart in age and played the same position. They became rivals and lifelong friends.

Garagiola began playing professionally for the Springfield Cardinals of the Western Association at the tender age of 16. Four years later in 1946, he made his big league debut with St. Louis. That season he earned his only World Series ring.

In the Fall Classic, Garagiola was at his best. He played in five games, recording six hits, two runs, and four RBI. The Series was memorable for Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash” in the 8th inning of Game 7. Slaughter ran through the third base coach’s stop sign to score the winning run and crown the Cardinals world champs.

Garagiola spent nine seasons in the big leagues playing for four teams. His playing career ended in 1954 when he was 28 years old.

In 1955 at the recommendation of Harry Caray, the Cardinals hired Garagiola to join the team’s broadcast team. He teamed with Caray and Jack Buck on the Major Leagues’ largest radio network.

From there his career took off. Soon he appeared on the Tonight show with host Jack Parr. In 1960 he wrote Baseball is a Funny Game, a national best-seller ghostwritten by Martin Quigley. The book catapulted Garagiola’s career to new heights.

On the book tour circuit, he appeared on NBC’s Today show. The producers liked Garagiola so much that they hired him to report on the 1960 World Series for Today. The next season, NBC put him on on the Sunday Game of the Week as a color man alongside Lindsey Nelson and Bob Wolff.

After working for NBC for five years, Garagiola was hired by the Yankees to join Red Barber, Phil Rizzuto, and Jerry Coleman. Garagiola spent three seasons in the Yankee broadcast booth before rejoining the Today show, this time as co-host with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters.

During his time with NBC, Garagiola worked with the likes of Tony Kubek, Curt Gowdy, and Vin Scully.

Garagiola earned many awards along the way. The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola won the Peabody Award in 1973. The award is television’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. In 1991, Garagiola was given the highest honor a baseball announcer can receive, the Ford C. Frick Award. The Hall of Fame’s Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Garagiola in 2014. Two years later in 2016, Garagiola passed away at the age of 90.

Joe Garagiola spent a life in baseball, became rich beyond his dreams, and was one of America’s most beloved television personalities. It’s not a bad life for a man who started life as the second-best catcher on his street.

Shown here is a government postcard signed by Garagiola in 1952.

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Shown here is the address portion of the government postcard signed by Joe Garagiola. Notice the Pittsburgh postmark of August 21, 1952. Collectors appreciate the context postmarks provide.

Garagiola and his Pirates club were in the midst of a ten-game home stand at the time. The day after the catcher dropped this in the mail, he went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in Pittsburgh’s 9-2 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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Part of the appeal of Joe Garagiola was his everyman persona and self-deprecating humor. It’s easy to forget he was a great competitor.

In the collection is this quote from the former catcher and longtime television personality. Garagiola writes about inner arrogance and action over words.

The nine-year Major League veteran has signed his name at the bottom of the paper.

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Joe Garagiola helped form the Baseball Assistance Team in 1986. According to its website, B.A.T. “…was founded to confidentially help members of the Baseball Family who were in need of assistance with nowhere else to turn.

Elected president of B.A.T. in ’89, Garagiola served in the capacity until 2002. As the face of the organization he helped B.A.T. live up to its mission.

In the collection is this letter written by Garagiola on NBC News letterhead. Garagiola writes of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.), an organization formed to help former ball players down on their luck. His signature appears boldly at the bottom of the letter.