Joe DiMaggio

1914-1999

"Tell me about the baseball," the boy asked him.
"In the American League it is the Yankees as I said," the old man said happily.
"They lost today," the boy told him.
"That means nothing. The great DiMaggio is himself again."
"They have other men on the team."
"Naturally. But he makes the difference."
"I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing," the old man said.

-- Ernest Hemingway --

(Boston, March 8, 1999) . . . Joltin' Joe has left and gone away . . . The great Joe DiMaggio is gone... but not forgotten. The Yankee Clipper was larger than life. An icon of American sport. Grace, skill, dignity, and class. Simon and Garfunkel sang about him, Hemingway wrote about him, Marilyn Monroe married him, and my sister and I met him. At his brother's restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In the sixties. Got his autograph, too . . .

He played 13 seasons. Like many of his contemporaries, he lost three in mid-career to World War 2. But in this time he led the Yankees to 9 World Championships . . . even for Michael Jordon, that's a lotta freakin' rings! 3 MVPs, 2 Batting Crowns, 2 HR Crowns, 2 RBI Crowns, and 9 Championships... Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. His 1941 season was one of the finest in baseball history. (Ted Williams, who hit .406 that year, can make the same claim). DiMaggio hit .357, led the league with 125 RBI, had the legendary 56-game hitting streak, 30 homers, and struck out only 13 times. Perhaps that is the most impressive statistic of all... All this was achieved as a right-handed hitter in an unforgiving Yankee Stadium, where left field was then known as Death Valley.

-- Johnny B --

Joe DiMaggio


YR      G     AB    R   H    2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB   K   AVG   OBP   SLG

1936    138   637  132  206  44  15  29  125  24  39  .323  .352  .576
1937    151   621  151  215  35  15  46  167  64  37  .346  .412  .673
1938    145   599  129  194  32  13  32  140  59  21  .324  .386  .581
1939    120   462  108  176  32   6  30  126  52  20  .381  .448  .671
1940    132   508   93  179  28   9  31  133  61  30  .352  .425  .626
1941    139   541  122  193  43  11  30  125  76  13  .357  .440  .643
1942    154   610  123  186  29  13  21  114  68  36  .305  .376  .498
1946    132   503   81  146  20   8  25   95  59  24  .290  .367  .511
1947    141   534   97  168  31  10  20   97  64  32  .315  .391  .522
1948    153   594  110  190  26  11  39  155  67  30  .320  .396  .598
1949     76   272   58   94  14   6  14   67  55  18  .346  .459  .596
1950    139   525  114  158  33  10  32  122  80  33  .301  .394  .585
1951    116   415   72  109  22   4  12   71  61  36  .263  .365  .422

13 yrs. 1736  6821 1390 2214 389 131 361 1537 790 369 .325  .398  .579
                                                                   6th

"In dreams I can still see him gliding after fly balls as if he were skimming the surface of the moon." -- Wilfred Sheed
"He had the greatest instinct of any ballplayer I ever saw. He made the rest of them look like plumbers." -- Casey Stengel
"The combination of proficiency and exquisite grace which Joe DiMaggio brought to the art of playing center field was something no baseball averages can measure and that must be seen to be believed and appreciated." -- New York Times editorial
"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you." -- Paul Simon
"He was the greatest baseball player of our time. He could do it all. He was an American hero and a legend for sure. I never, ever compared myself to him. I thought there never was a greater player in the history of baseball. There's only one guy I saw you could mention in the same breath, and that was Willie Mays." -- Ted Williams
"There was never a day when I was as good as Joe DiMaggio at his best. Joe was the best, the very best I ever saw." -- Stan Musial
"He was the best base runner I ever saw. He could have stolen 50, 60 bases a year if I let him. He wasn't the fastest man alive. He just knew how to run bases better than anybody." -- Joe McCarthy
"Joe, you've never heard such cheering." -- Marilyn Monroe (after entertaining American troops in Korea)
"Yes, I have." -- Joe DiMaggio