NBC. One of Garagiola's first appearances on TV was in 1960, when he appeared onstage at a campaign event for John F. Kennedy. Surrounded by politicians including former President Harry S. Truman, Garagiola put his arm around the former president and, knowing that his father who had often questioned his son's career choices would be watching the event on television, looked into the camera and said, "Hey Pop, I just want you to see who I'm hanging around with." Testimony at Curt Flood trial In 1970, Garagiola appeared at a preliminary trial following former Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood's lawsuit against Major League Baseball, challenging the game's reserve clause. Testifying before Judge Irving Ben Cooper in New York, Garagiola defended the clause, a stance he later deemed a "terrible mistake." Politics In the 1976 presidential election, Garagiola enthusiastically supported the candidacy of President Gerald Ford. During the fall campaign, the Republican National Committee hired Garagiola to do a series of television ads with Ford, with Garagiola talking to Ford in a relaxed, informal setting. Derided by Ford's critics as "The Joe and Jerry Show", the ads in their opinion were considered to have negatively affected the Ford campaign. The two men became close friends, and on election night in November 1976 Ford invited Garagiola to be one of his guests at the White House to watch the results on television. Ford lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia. Advocacy against chewing tobacco Garagiola was an advocate against the use of chewing tobacco. He had picked up the habit during his playing days with the Cardinals, but quit cold turkey in the late-1950s. He annually visited major league teams during spring training with players from his generation who have suffered from oral cancer related to the addiction, and he always made comments about it on broadcasts whenever the camera would be on a player chewing tobacco. Society for American Baseball Research Garagiola was the keynote luncheon speaker at the 2007 convention of the Society for American Baseball Research held in St. Louis. Honors Garagiola was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1970. He was presented with a Peabody Award in 1973 for his NBC work. In , he was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for outstanding broadcasting accomplishments. He was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association