Dodgers honor retiring Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín during pregame ceremony

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers honored Jaime Jarrín before Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies, with the retiring broadcaster telling the fans at Dodger Stadium, "no matter what I say, it is not enough to say thank you for what I have in my heart."

"I have loved being with you, being part of this great organization, bringing you Dodger baseball," Jarrín said.

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.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said "for 64 years, Jaime has been a champion ... in his profession" and "has broken barriers for Latinos, particularly here in Los Angeles."

Garcetti gave out his fourth key of the city as mayor to Jarrín, and dedicated the day in his honor.

California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla said Jarrín's voice "was my soundtrack to Major League Baseball."

Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten said Jarrín "inspired generations of Angelenos and others to become and to remain lifelong Dodger fans."

"Jaime was integral in introducing the Dodgers to Los Angeles and in giving a voice to the franchise's Latino stars," Kasten said.

The booth Jarrín broadcasts from will now be known as the "Jaime Jarrín Spanish Broadcast Booth," Kasten announced.

Jarrín has seen more games at Dodger Stadium than anyone else. The stadium opened in 1962.

Actor Edward James Olmos, fellow Dodger broadcasters Fernando Valenzuela and Pepe Yñiguez and Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo also spoke during the approximately 50-minute tribute.

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.

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."

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