{"id":655578,"date":"2026-04-01T01:11:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T01:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/655578\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T01:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T01:11:37","slug":"blind-autistic-clarinet-player-performs-national-anthem-at-diamondbacks-home-opener-wsb-tv-channel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/655578\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind, autistic clarinet player performs national anthem at Diamondbacks\u2019 home opener \u2013 WSB-TV Channel 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 A blind and autistic clarinet player from Arizona performed the national anthem on Monday at the Arizona Diamondbacks\u2019 2026 home opener.<\/p>\n

Joe Giacinto, 21, strode to the plate at Chase Field and performed a solid version of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d according to American Songwriter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was just another night for Giacinto, KNXV<\/a> reported. He has sat in with jazz bands in New Orleans and performed at an Atlanta Hawks game in January at the invitation of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, who is the father of a child with autism.<\/p>\n

Giacinto was originally asked by the Diamondbacks before the 2020 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the performance to become a virtual one, KNXV<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n

Monday night, he performed in front of a crowd of 48,350 fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an amazing opportunity, I can\u2019t wait,\u201d Giacinto said before the game.<\/p>\n

Giacinto has played the clarinet for more than a decade, mastering every song by ear, KNXV<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

The response was proof that they appreciated his talent.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks also sent their fans home happy, holding off the Detroit Tigers 9-6.<\/p>\n

Need something to lift your spirits?<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 A blind and autistic clarinet player from Arizona performed the national anthem on Monday at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,4314,48273,5,26266,83778,38,83777,4,21659],"class_list":{"0":"post-655578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","10":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","11":"tag-autism","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-blind","14":"tag-clarinet","15":"tag-diamondbacks","16":"tag-joe-giacinto","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-national-anthem"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116326792122686059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}