Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Garagiola to speak at archbishop's dinner

Paul Logan The Albuquerque Journal; Special to El Defensor Chieftain

Joe Garagiola, a baseball icon for 50 years, is known for his folksy, easy-going approach. For example:

"I went through baseball as 'a player to be named later.'"

"Baseball is a game of race, creed and color. The race is to first base. The creed is the rules of the game. The color? Well, the home team wears white uniforms and the visiting team wears gray."

"Yogi (Berra) would think deja vu was a Latino shortstop."

The bald baseball broadcaster will bring his Yogi-isms and one-liners to Archbishop Michael Sheehan's annual fund-raising dinner Friday.

When Sheehan took over the scandal-plagued Diocese of Phoenix last year, he helped Garagiola on behalf of the St. Peter Indian Mission. So it's payback time, Garagiola said.

"(Sheehan) said Mass and we had a tremendous crowd," said Garagiola of the Pima Indian event. "He stayed and the elders had a chance to visit."

Sheehan said nearly 1,000 Pimas attended. He said Garagiola cried for joy because the Indians never had an archbishop visit the mission.

"He wants to help others," Sheehan said of Garagiola. "He figured this school needed a lot of help because of the poverty of the place. He's their godfather. He fixed the roof, got them new air conditioning and a new ball field, which is dedicated to him."

The Pimas call Garagiola "Awesome Fox" because of the awesome things he has done and the foxy way he does them.

Garagiola likes to barter and trade to help the mission. As a Scottsdale, Ariz., celebrity, he is asked to guest host or speak at functions. Instead of receiving pay, he has the sponsors donate their services to assist the Pimas' Catholic school.

"I firmly believe that faith without works is dead," Garagiola said during a telephone interview.

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