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Dodgers broadcaster Jorge Jarrín announced his retirement from the Dodgers on Thursday after 17 years with the franchise, most recently sharing the Spanish-language broadcast booth with his father, Jaime.
“You would think this would be a very difficult decision to make, but I just knew the time was right and I leave with a tremendous sense of gratitude for the Dodger organization,” Jorge Jarrín said in a statement. “To end with a World Championship is the cherry on top of a dream 32 years in the making! Fortunately for our fans, my dad — the Marathon Man — will continue.”
Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín, now 85, has called Dodgers games since 1959, including the last five years on radio with Jorge, the first father-son radio announcing duo on an MLB Spanish-language broadcast.
Today the Dodgers and I announced my retirement from the broadcast booth. I leave proud of what we have accomplished since I joined the Dodgers in 2004. The best was being teamed up with my dad in the broadcast booth. He goes on, but I’m happy to be just a fan now, and forever.
— Jorge Jarrin (@JorgeJarrin1) February 5, 2021
Hace un tiempo mi hijo Jorge me dijo que no pensaba emularme en longevidad con Dodgers y hoy confirmó su jubilación.Deja su trabajo para gozar de su retiro; le extrañaré en la cabina pero tengo la fortuna de su compañía todos los días en casa junto a su esposa Maggie.
— Jaime Jarrín (@JaimeJarrin) February 5, 2021
Before that, Jorge was the Spanish-language play-by-play television announcer for the team for three seasons. He also spent 11 years as the Dodgers manager of radio broadcast sales and Hispanic initiatives.
“Jorge was truly an organizational asset, always willing to generously lend his time for community events and his kindness shining through his calls of Dodger baseball,” said Dodgers senior vice president Erik Braverman. “It’s so fitting that Jorge’s final broadcast was the Dodgers’ World Series-clinching victory.”
Links
- To put some context into why MLB labor relations are as tense as they are, major league player salaries decreased for a third straight year in 2020. Per Ronald Blum at the Associated Press, the average MLB salary would have been $3.89 million last year before the pandemic, down 4.2 percent from 2019. Per MLBPA head Tony Clark, “We have been consistent in our position that the current trends in our game need to be addressed regarding the lack of incentive to compete and the need for the system to better reflect the value created by players throughout the service time spectrum.”
- Pedro Moura at The Athletic profiled utility man Nick Shumpert, who signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers and who this offseason worked out in Nashville with his cousin, Mookie Betts.
- Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs took a look at the best remaining free agent position players on the market.
- Gavin Lux and Billy Ashley are among the examples Steven Goldman uses at Baseball Prospectus to wonder about comparable players identified in PECOTA projections.
- Ji-Man Choi had his salary arbitration hearing Thursday, per the Associated Press. After J.D. Davis Tuesday and Anthony Santander on Wednesday, as of now 10 arbitration hearings remain, including Walker Buehler and Austin Barnes of the Dodgers at some point over the next two weeks.