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Dodgers play-by-play announcer Jaime Jarín in 2009. | Photo courtesy of Cindy Murphy/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
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The Los Angeles Dodgers will honor retiring broadcaster Jaime Jarrín before Saturday evening’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
Sen. Alex Padilla, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, actor Edward James Olmos, and fellow Dodger broadcasters Fernando Valenzuela and Pepe Yñiguez are scheduled to appear at the tribute, which will begin at 5 p.m.
Jarrín will make an on-stage appearance at the La Gran Fiesta celebration to reflect on his 64 seasons with the Dodgers, his signature home run call — “Se va, se va, se va” — and what Dodger fans mean to him.
The celebration will begin at 3 p.m. Dodger players scheduled to appear include Julio Urías, Trea Turner, Joey Gallo and Hanser Alberto. Dodger alumni including Manny Mota, Steve Yeager and Ken Landreaux, will sign autographs.
La Gran Fiesta also includes opportunities to take pictures with a World Series trophy, a performance by Banda La Maravillosa and music provided by DJ Mal-Ski.
Jarrín announced on Sept. 28, 2021, that he would retire after the 2022 season, his 64th with the team.
The 86-year-old Jarrín has been calling Dodger games since 1959, the team’s second season in Los Angeles after moving from Brooklyn.
Jarrín received the highest honor for a baseball broadcaster, the Ford C. Frick Award, in 1998. It is presented annually by the Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball.” Jarrín was the second Spanish-language broadcaster to receive the award.
In the 2005 book “Voices of Summer,” Jarrín was named baseball’s all-time best Spanish-language broadcaster.
“It’s impossible to put into words what Jaime has meant to the Dodger organization,” Dodger President & CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement released when Jarrín announced his retirement. “For over six decades, he’s brought us signature calls of baseball’s biggest moments while serving the Dodgers and Los Angeles with grace, integrity and class.
“Jaime was integral in introducing the Dodgers to Los Angeles and in giving a voice to the franchise’s Latino stars.”
Jarrín began broadcasting at age 16 in his native Ecuador and came to the United States in 1955. At the time, he had not seen a baseball game. Jarrín began regularly attending Pacific Coast League games at Los Angeles’ since-demolished Gilmore Field and Wrigley Field from 1955 through 1957 to learn the game.
When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles following the conclusion of the 1957 season, Jarrín was given one year to prepare to become a baseball broadcaster by William Beaton, the station manager at KWKW-AM (1330).
Jarrín never missed a broadcast from 1962-1984, calling nearly 4,000 consecutive games. The streak ended when Jarrín took charge of all the Spanish-language radio coverage and production for the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Jarrín has called 22 no-hitters, including perfect games by Sandy Koufax in 1965, Tom Browning in 1988 and Dennis Martinez in 1991, along with 30 World Series and 30 All-Star games.
Jarrín received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 1998 and was inducted into the Dodgers’ Ring of Honor in 2018. He is a member of halls of fame of The Associated Press Television-Radio Association, California Broadcasters’ Association and Southern California Sports Broadcasters’ Association, which awarded him the organization’s Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
Jarrín’s other major honors include La Gran Cruz al Merito en El Grado de Comendador, received in Ecuador in January 1992 and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Foundation’s AFTRA Media and Entertainment Excellence Award.
Jarrín was featured in the 2020 Rose Parade as an honored guest of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, embodying the theme of “The Power of Hope.”
