DiMaggio, Joe

DiMaggio, Joe (1914–1999), baseball player.Born into a California immigrant family that spoke only Italian, Joseph Paul DiMaggio quit high school to work and play baseball. In 1936 the New York Yankees bought him, hoping to replace Babe Ruth. He finished that year with a .323 batting average, 29 home runs, and the nickname “Joltin' Joe.” In 13 seasons with the Yankees, DiMaggio hit .325 with 361 homers, easily becoming the first Italian American elected to the Hall of Fame.

To contemporaries, DiMaggio was not just great but special. First, he was consistent. He led the league in major categories in nine seasons and, in 1941, hit safely in fifty‐six straight games. He was also versatile. Equally skilled at hitting, fielding, and base running, he led the Yankees to ten pennants and eight world championships. And he performed with a grace, self‐possession, and poise that astounded sportswriters and made him the most charismatic athlete of his generation.

Moreover, though reserved and uncomfortable in crowds, DiMaggio enjoyed meeting celebrities and beautiful women at Toots Shor's and other New York City nightspots, where he learned to hold his liquor and his tongue. The immigrant's son thus became “Broadway Joe” as well as the “Yankee Clipper,” a gossip‐column favorite and the subject, however dignified and distant, of mass adoration. Fittingly, after divorcing his first wife, he married Hollywood's reigning sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, in 1954. The marriage lasted a year. When Monroe died in 1962, DiMaggio had roses placed thereafter at the crypt holding her ashes. To the turbulent 1960s, he came to symbolize a lost grace and stability. In the commercial 1980s, he appeared, dignity intact, in television commercials, adding “Mr. Coffee” to his list of affectionate nicknames.
See also Sports: Professional Sports.

Bibliography

Maury Allen , Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?, 1975.
George DeGregorio , Joe DiMaggio: An Informal Biography, 1981.

Ronald Story