I recently finished Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life by Richard Ben Cramer and thought I would do a book review of sorts. I read the 515-page tome avidly, underlining and annotating as is my habit. DiMaggio was the subject of numerous biographies before this one (which came out in 2000), and others may have been published since. We should not be surprised. The San Francisco native had a stupendous 13-year career with the New York Yankees in which they won the World Series nine times. Talk about coming up big in big games—his World Series batting average was .425! DiMaggio, major league baseball’s MVP in 1939, 1941 and 1947, was an unprecedented combination of power, speed and grace. He excelled at every aspect of the game—hitting, fielding, running the bases—and the fans adored him. DiMaggio was truly one of the all-time greats. No less an authority than Hank Aaron said he was the finest player he had ever seen. We all know about the man’s 56-game hitting streak in the 1941 season. During that time, the Les Brown Band put together a memorable song about the Yanks’ center fielder. Here are some of the words:
From coast to coast, that’s all you hear
Of Joe, the one-man show
He’s glorified the horsehide sphere
Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio…
Joe…Joe…DiMaggio…we want you on our side.
After having read Cramer’s book and done further research on my own, I know much more about this son of a Sicilian immigrant fisherman. It seems that besides being blessed with extraordinary talent, DiMaggio had a fierce determination to win; he played hard, dealt with numerous injuries and inspired his teammates to follow his lead. They gave him the utmost respect and deference.
I do not wish to be critical of him, but his famous streak contained at least two “gift hits” wherein the official scorer credited DiMaggio with hits of dubious authenticity. And had he been on another team—the St. Louis Browns or Washington Senators, for instance—his winning record would have been far different. He might have never gotten into the postseason. DiMaggio had the good fortune to join the Yankees, who had won four championships in a decade with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other stars. New York, a city given over to the big time, only aided the DiMaggio mystique. He detested the Red Sox’ Ted Williams, candidly stating that although he was a competent batsman, he was awful on defense and ran like a girl. When Mickey Mantle, a worthy replacement if ever there was one, came along in 1951, DiMaggio felt threatened and was aloof if not rude to the blond-headed rookie.
He may have been of common stock, but DiMaggio was treated as royalty and came to expect no less. Virtually wherever he went, every eye was upon him. Flattery and praise were the norm for the Yankee Clipper. He seldom had to spend his own money for a meal or a car or an airplane ticket or a hotel room. People were so honored to be in his presence, they wanted to give him what he might want. DiMaggio, a first-class cheapskate, was glad to take. In that regard, I have to address his relations with women. He had the morals of an alley cat. Many of his male pals—he actually preferred hanging around with men—were practically pimps on his behalf, discreetly securing a parade of lovely young women. His marriage to sex kitten Marilyn Monroe lasted 284 days.
He had been retired from baseball for more than 15 years when Simon & Garfunkel came out with the No. 1 song of 1968, “Mrs. Robinson.” It only served to reinforce DiMaggio’s iconic status with these lines:
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
(Woo woo woo)
What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away
(Hey hey hey, hey hey hey)
DiMaggio was quite vain and guarded his legacy carefully. He refused to make personal appearances without a guarantee—along with a hefty fee—that he would be introduced as “the greatest living ballplayer.” In 1998, Time magazine held a posh gathering for all the people who had been featured on its cover during the previous 75 years. Needless to say, there were a lot of famous men and women, historic figures, presidents, kings, queens, Nobel Prize winners and so forth. And who do you think was the undisputed star of the show?
DiMaggio, a lifelong smoker, died of lung cancer a few months later in Hollywood, Florida at age 84.
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