Joe dimaggio children

American baseball player (–)

Not to be confused with Joe Maggio.

Baseball player

Joe DiMaggio
DiMaggio with the New York Yankees in
Center fielder
Born:()November 25, Martinez, California, U.S.
Died: March 8, () (aged&#;84) Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
May 3,&#;,&#;for the&#;New York Yankees
September 30,&#;,&#;for the&#;New York Yankees
Batting average
Hits	2,
Home runs
Runs batted in	1,
Stats at Baseball Reference&#;
As player As coach
13× All-Star (–, –) 9× World Series champion (–, , , –) 3× AL MVP (, , ) 2× AL batting champion (, ) 2× AL home run leader (, ) 2× AL RBI leader (, ) MLB record game hitting streak New York Yankees No. 5 retired Monument Park honoree Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Induction
Vote	% (fourth ballot)

Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Italian:[dʒuˈzɛppeˈpaːolodiˈmaddʒo]; November 25, – March 8, ), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseballcenter fielder who played his entire year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees.

Born to Italian immigrants in California, he is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time and set the record for the longest hitting streak (56 games from May 15 – July 16, ).^[1]

DiMaggio was a three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award winner and an All-Star in each of his 13 seasons.

During his tenure with the Yankees, the club won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships. His nine career World Series rings are second only to fellow Yankee Yogi Berra, who won

At the time of his retirement after the season, he ranked fifth in career home runs () and sixth in career slugging percentage ().

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in and was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken during baseball's centennial year of ^[2] His brothers Vince (–) and Dom (–) also were major league center fielders. Outside of baseball, DiMaggio is also widely known for his marriage and life-long devotion to Marilyn Monroe.

Early life

Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio was born on November 25, , in Martinez, California,^[3] the eighth of nine children born to Italian (Sicilian) immigrants Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio, from Isola delle Femmine. His Italian birth name was Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio. Rosalia named her son "Giuseppe" after his father in the hopes he would be her last child; "Paolo" was in honor of Giuseppe's favorite saint, Paul of Tarsus.

Giuseppe was a fisherman, as were generations of DiMaggios before him. DiMaggio's brother Tom told Maury Allen that Rosalia's father wrote to her saying Giuseppe could earn a better living in California. Giuseppe and Rosalia decided that he would go to the United States for one year: if things were better, he would send for her; if not, he would return home.

After being processed on Ellis Island, Giuseppe worked his way across the country, eventually settling near Rosalia's father in Pittsburg, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area. After four years, he had earned enough money to send for Rosalia and their daughter, who was born after he left. When Joe was a toddler, Giuseppe moved his family to the North Beach section of San Francisco.^[4]:&#;18&#; Giuseppe hoped that his five sons would become fishermen.^[5]

DiMaggio recalled that he would do anything to get out of cleaning his father's boat, as the smell of dead fish nauseated him.

Giuseppe called him "lazy" and "good-for-nothing". At age ten, he took up baseball, playing third base at the North Beach playground near his home. After attending Hancock Elementary and Francisco Middle School, DiMaggio dropped out of Galileo High School and worked odd jobs.^[6]

By , DiMaggio was playing semi-pro ball.

Nearing the end of the season, his brother Vince, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), talked his manager into letting DiMaggio fill in at shortstop. He made his professional debut on October 1, , playing the last three games. In less than two years, DiMaggio made the jump from the playground to the PCL, one notch below the majors.^[4]:&#;34&#; In his full rookie year, from May 27 to July 25, , he hit safely in 61 consecutive games, a PCL-record,^[7] and second-longest in Minor League Baseball history.^[8] "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak," he said.

"Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking, or sleeping.”

In , DiMaggio suffered a potentially career-threatening knee injury when he tore ligaments of his right knee while stepping out of a jitney. Convinced the injury would heal, Yankees scout Bill Essick pestered his bosses to give DiMaggio another look.

After he passed a physical, the team bought him for $50, and five players, with the Seals keeping him for the season.^[9] DiMaggio batted with runs batted in (RBIs) and 34 home runs. The Seals won the PCL title, and he was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Biography of joe dimaggio George Kell 3rd Baseman Class of When Dorothy threatened divorce in , the usually unflappable DiMaggio went into a slump and also developed ulcers. Willie Keeler Right Fielder Class of Richie Ashburn Center Fielder Class of

Professional career

New York Yankees (–, –)

DiMaggio made his Major League debut on May 3, , batting ahead of Lou Gehrig in the lineup. The Yankees had not been to the World Series since , but they won the next four World Series. Over the course of his year Major League career, DiMaggio led the Yankees to nine World Series championships, where he trails only Yogi Berra (10) in that category.^[10]

DiMaggio set a franchise record for rookies in by hitting 29 home runs.

DiMaggio accomplished the feat in games.^[11] His record stood for over 80 years until it was shattered by Aaron Judge, who tallied 52 homers in ^[12]

In , DiMaggio built upon his rookie season by leading the majors with 46 home runs, runs scored, and total bases. He also hit safely in 43 of 44 games from June 27 to August ^[13] He finished second in American League MVP voting in a close race with Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers.

In , DiMaggio was nicknamed "the Yankee Clipper" by Yankee's play-by-play announcer Arch McDonald, when he likened DiMaggio's speed and range in the outfield to the then-new Pan American airliner.^[4]:&#;&#; That year in August, DiMaggio recorded 53 RBIs, tying Hack Wilson's record for most in a single month.^[14] He also won his first career batting title and MVP award, as well as leading the Yankees to their fourth consecutive World Series championship.^[15]

DiMaggio was pictured with his son on the cover of the inaugural issue of SPORT magazine in September ^[16]

In , DiMaggio won his third MVP award and his sixth World Series with the Yankees.

That year, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but the trade was canceled when MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.^[17]

In the September issue of SPORT, Hank Greenberg said that DiMaggio covered so much ground in center field that the only way to get a hit against the Yankees was "to hit 'em where Joe wasn't." DiMaggio also stole home five times in his career.

On February 7, , DiMaggio signed a contract worth $, ($1,, in current dollar terms) ($70, plus bonuses), and became the first baseball player to break $, in earnings.^{[citation needed]} By , he was ranked the second-best center fielder by the Sporting News, after Larry Doby.^[18] After a poor season, various injuries, and a scouting report by the Brooklyn Dodgers that was turned over to the New York Giants and leaked to the press, DiMaggio announced his retirement at age 37 on December 11, ^[19] When remarking on his retirement to the Sporting News on December 19, , he said:

I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates.

I had a poor year, but even if I had hit , this would have been my last year. I was full of aches and pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game, and so, I've played my last game.

Through May , DiMaggio was tied with Mark McGwire for third place all-time in home runs over the first two calendar years in the major leagues (77), behind PhilliesHall of FamerChuck Klein (83), and Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun (79).^[20] Through , he was one of seven major leaguers to have had at least four homer, RBI seasons in their first five years, along with Chuck Klein, Ted Williams, Ralph Kiner, Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Braun.^[21] DiMaggio holds the record for most seasons with more home runs than strikeouts (minimum 20 home runs), a feat he accomplished seven times, and five times consecutively from to ^[22] DiMaggio could have possibly exceeded home runs and 2, RBIs had he not served in the military during World War II, causing him to miss the , , and seasons.^[23]

DiMaggio might have had better power-hitting statistics had his home park not been Yankee Stadium.

In "The House That Ruth Built", its nearby right field favored the Babe's left-handed power. For right-handed hitters, its deep left and center fields made home runs almost impossible. Mickey Mantle recalled that he and Whitey Ford witnessed many DiMaggio blasts that would have been home runs anywhere other than Yankee Stadium (Ruth himself fell victim to that problem, as he also hit many long flyouts to center).

Bill James calculated that DiMaggio lost more home runs due to his home park than any other player in history.

Babe ruth

Yogi berra

Joseph paul dimaggio iii

Left-center field went as far back as &#;ft [&#;m], whereas left-center rarely reaches &#;ft [&#;m] in today's ballparks. Al Gionfriddo's famous catch in the World Series, which was close to the foot mark [&#;m] in left-center, just in front of the visitors bullpen, would have been a home run in the Yankees' current ballpark and most other ballparks at that time, except perhaps the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants.

DiMaggio hit home runs in 3, at-bats at home versus home runs in 3, at-bats on the road. His slugging percentage at home was , and on the road, it was Statistician Bill Jenkinson commented on these figures:

For example, Joe DiMaggio was acutely handicapped by playing at Yankee Stadium. Every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him.

If you look at a baseball field from foul line to foul line, it has a degree radius. From the power alley in the left-center field ( in Joe's time) to the fence in the deep right-center field ( ft), it is 45 degrees. And Joe DiMaggio never hit a single home run over the fences at Yankee Stadium in that degree graveyard.

Ted williams They had to carry photo ID booklets at all times, were not allowed to travel more than five miles from their home without a permit, and Giuseppe's boat was seized. Pee Wee Reese Shortstop Class of Earle Combs Center Fielder Class of Jesse Burkett Left Fielder Class of

It was just too far. Joe was plenty strong; he routinely hit balls in the foot range. But that just wasn't good enough in the cavernous Yankee Stadium. Like Ruth, he benefited from a few easy homers each season due to the short foul line distances. But he lost many more than he gained by constantly hitting long flyouts toward center field.

Whereas most sluggers perform better on their home fields, DiMaggio hit only 41 percent of his career home runs in the Bronx. He hit homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about homers during his home-field career.

DiMaggio became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in but he was not elected until The Hall of Fame rules on the post-retirement induction waiting period had been revised in the interim, extending the waiting period from one to five years, but DiMaggio and Ted Lyons were exempted from the rule.

DiMaggio told Baseball Digest in that the Brooklyn Dodgers had offered him their managerial job in , but he turned it down. After being out of baseball since his retirement as an active player, DiMaggio joined the newly relocated Oakland Athletics as a vice president in and and a coach in just the first of those two seasons. The appointment allowed him to qualify for MLB's maximum pension allowance of which he had fallen two years short upon his retirement.

During his only campaign as a coach, he helped improve the talents of players such as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, and Joe Rudi who became part of the team's nucleus which won three consecutive World Series in , , and ^[24]

After he resigned from the Athletics, DiMaggio was named the acting manager for the East team in the East-West Major League Baseball Classic which was held in honor of the late Martin Luther King Jr., raising charity money for King's causes.^[25]

hitting streak

Main article: Joe DiMaggio's game hitting streak

DiMaggio's most famous achievement is his MLB record-breaking game hitting streak in The streak began on May 15, a couple of weeks before the death of Lou Gehrig—who had been DiMaggio's teammate from to —when DiMaggio went one-for-four against Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith.^[27] Major newspapers began to write about DiMaggio's streak early on, but as he approached George Sisler's modern-era record of 41 games, it became a national phenomenon.

Initially, DiMaggio showed little interest in breaking Sisler's record, saying: "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it I'll either break it or I won't."^[28] As he approached Sisler's record, DiMaggio showed more interest, saying, "At the start, I didn't think much about it but naturally I'd like to get the record since I am this close."^[29] On June 29, , DiMaggio doubled in the first game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium to tie Sisler's record and then singled in the nightcap to extend his streak to ^[30][31]

A Yankee Stadium crowd of 52, fans watched DiMaggio tie the all-time hitting streak record (44 games, Wee Willie Keeler in ) on July 1.^[32] The next day against the Boston Red Sox, he homered into Yankee Stadium's left-field stands to extend his streak to 45, setting a new record.

DiMaggio recorded 67 hits in at-bats during the first 45 games of his streak, while Keeler recorded 88 hits in at-bats.^[33] DiMaggio continued hitting after breaking Keeler's record, reaching 50 straight games on July 11 against the St. Louis Browns.^[34] On July 17 at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, DiMaggio's streak was finally snapped at 56 games, thanks in part to two backhand stops by Indians third baseman Ken Keltner.^[35] DiMaggio batted during the streak with 15 home runs and 55 RBI.^[36] The day after the streak ended DiMaggio started another streak that lasted 16 games, therefore hitting safely in 72 of 73 games.^[37][38] The closest anyone has come to equaling DiMaggio is Pete Rose, who hit safely in 44 straight games in ^[39][40] During the streak, DiMaggio played in seven doubleheaders.

The Yankees' record during the streak was 41–13–2.

Some consider DiMaggio's streak a uniquely outstanding and unbreakable record and a statistical near-impossibility. Nobel Prize-winning physicist and sabermetricianEdward Mills Purcell calculated that, to have the likelihood of a hitting streak of 50 games occurring in the history of baseball up to the late s be greater than 50%, fifty-two lifetime hitters would have to have existed instead of the actual three (Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Shoeless Joe Jackson).

His Harvard colleague Stephen Jay Gould, citing Purcell's work, called DiMaggio's game achievement "the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in American sports".^[26] Samuel Arbesman and Steven Strogatz of Cornell University disagree. They conducted 10, computer simulations of Major League Baseball from to , 42% of which produced streaks as long or longer, with record streaks ranging from 39 to games and typical record streaks between 50 and 64 games.^[1] Yet somehow, despite Arbesman's claim it's so easy, in real life this streak has yet to be broken - which proves these computer sims prove a whole lot of nothing.

World War II

DiMaggio enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on February 17, , rising to the rank of sergeant. He was stationed at Santa Ana, California, Hawaii, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a physical education instructor.^[41] He was released on a medical discharge in September , due to chronic stomach ulcers.^[42] Other than being paid $21 a month, DiMaggio's service was as comfortable as a soldier's life could be.

He spent most of his military career playing for baseball teams and in exhibition games against fellow Major Leaguers and minor league players, and superiors gave him special privileges due to his prewar fame. DiMaggio ate so well from an athlete-only diet that he gained 10 pounds, and while in Hawaii he and other players mostly tanned on the beach and drank.

Embarrassed by his lifestyle, DiMaggio requested that he be given a combat assignment but was turned down.^[23]

Parents as "enemy aliens"

Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio, both from Isola delle Femmine, were among the thousands of German, Japanese, and Italian immigrants classified as "enemy aliens" by the government after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Each was required to carry photo ID booklets at all times and was not allowed to travel outside a five-mile radius from their home without a permit. Giuseppe was barred from San Francisco Bay, where he had fished for decades, and his boat was seized. Rosalia became an American citizen in , followed by Giuseppe in ^[42]

Marriages

Dorothy Arnold

In January , DiMaggio met actress Dorothy Arnold on the set of Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, in which he had a minor role, and she was an extra.

He announced their engagement on April 25, , just before the Yankees were to meet the Philadelphia Athletics.^[43] They married at Saints Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco on November 19, , as 20, well-wishers jammed the streets. The couple's son, Joseph Paul DiMaggio Jr. (–), was born at Doctors' Hospital in Staten Island.^[44] Their marriage was troubled, as Arnold wanted DiMaggio to settle down and be a father to their son and a nearby husband to her; DiMaggio was more interested in the public eye.^[45] The couple divorced in , while DiMaggio was on leave from the Yankees during World War II.^{[citation needed]}

Marilyn Monroe

According to her autobiography My Story, co-written with Ben Hecht,^[46] American actress Marilyn Monroe originally did not want to meet DiMaggio, fearing he was a stereotypically arrogant athlete.

However, they did meet in Los Angeles while on a blind date.^[47] After dating for two years,^[48] they eloped at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, ^[47] Although she suffered from endometriosis, Monroe and DiMaggio each expressed to reporters their desire to start a family.^[49]

The union was troubled from the start by DiMaggio's jealousy, controlling attitude, and him physically abusing Monroe, as well as her busy life as an actress.^[49] A violent fight entailing physical assault between the couple occurred immediately after Monroe filmed the skirt-blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch that was filmed on September 14, , in front of Manhattan's Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater, as DiMaggio disapproved of the scene.^[51] Then 20th Century Fox's East Coast correspondent Bill Kobrin told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that it was director Billy Wilder's idea to turn the shoot into a media circus.

Monroe and DiMaggio then had a "yelling battle" in the theater lobby.^[52] After returning from New York City to Hollywood in October , Monroe filed for divorce from DiMaggio after only nine months of marriage. However, she was devastated to leave DiMaggio, and throughout the procedures in court, she could be seen weeping openly.^[48]

DiMaggio was also devastated, and wrote to Monroe, saying, "I love you and want to be with you…There is nothing I would like better than to restore your confidence in me…My heart split even wider seeing you cry in front of all those people."^[47] He also wrote, “[I don't] know what your thoughts are about me, but I can tell you I love you sincerely — way deep in my heart, irregardless of anything."^[47] After the divorce, DiMaggio underwent therapy, stopped drinking alcohol, and expanded his interests beyond baseball.^[54]

On August 1, , an International News wire photo of DiMaggio with Lee Meriwether gave rise to speculation that they were engaged, but DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer wrote that it was a rumor started by columnist Walter Winchell.

Monroe biographer Donald Spoto claimed that DiMaggio was "very close to marrying" Miss AmericaMarian McKnight, who won the crown with a Marilyn Monroe act, but McKnight denied it.^[55] He was also linked to Liz Renay, Cleo Moore, Rita Gam, Marlene Dietrich, and Gloria DeHaven during this period, and years later to Elizabeth Ray and Morgan Fairchild, but he never publicly confirmed any involvement with any woman.

DiMaggio re-entered Monroe's life as her marriage to Arthur Miller was ending. On February 10, , he secured her release from Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in Manhattan. She joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for the Yankees. Their "just friends" claim did not stop remarriage rumors from flying.

Reporters staked out her Manhattan apartment building. Bob Hope "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The Second Time Around" to them at the 33rd Academy Awards.

According to Maury Allen's biography, DiMaggio was alarmed at how Monroe had fallen in with people he felt were detrimental to her well-being.

Joe dimaggio jr Stephen Jay Gould wrote of DiMaggio's hit streak as the only sports record that was an unpredictable anomaly based on statistical analysis, and therefore the greatest feat in all of sports. See more right handed batters. A sub-par season and a brutal scouting report by the Brooklyn Dodgers that was leaked to the press led him to announce his retirement on December 11, Other websites [ change change source ].

Val Monette, the owner of a military post-exchange supply company, told Allen that DiMaggio left his employ on August 1, , because he had decided to ask Monroe to remarry him.

Four days later, on August 5, Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood, Los Angeles home after her housekeeper Eunice R. Murray telephoned Monroe's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson.

DiMaggio's son had spoken to Monroe on the phone the night of her death and said she seemed fine.^[56] Her death was deemed a probable suicide by "Coroner to the Stars" Thomas Noguchi. It has also been the subject of conspiracy theories.

Devastated, DiMaggio claimed Monroe's body and arranged for her funeral at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

He barred Hollywood's elite and members of the Kennedy family from attending the funeral, including President John F. Kennedy. He had a half-dozen red roses delivered to her crypt three times a week for 20 years.^[57][47][58] Oftentimes, he refused to talk about her publicly or otherwise exploit their relationship, and in the rare moments when he did speak to reporters, he was unable to hold back tears.

He never married again.^[47]

According to DiMaggio's attorney Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's last words were "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."^[59] Though DiMaggio's brother Dominic challenged Engelberg's version of Joe's final moments and his motives,^[60][61] Engleberg continuously denied those who questioned DiMaggio's last words, reporting that one night when he and a terminally ill DiMaggio were sitting together, DiMaggio told him, "I don’t feel bad about dying.

At least I’ll be with Marilyn again."^[59]

Advertising

In the s, DiMaggio became a spokesman for Mr. Coffee, and was the face of the electric drip coffee makers for over 20 years. Vincent Marotta, the CEO of North American Systems, which manufactured Mr. Coffee at the time, recruited DiMaggio for the advertising campaign.^[62] DiMaggio's spots were successful with consumers.

In a interview with The Columbus Dispatch, Marotta joked that "millions of kids grew up thinking Joe DiMaggio was a famous appliance salesman."^[62] Despite the commercials, DiMaggio rarely drank coffee due to ulcers;^[62] and when he did drink coffee, he preferred Sankainstant coffee rather than coffee brewed by Mr.

Coffee machines.^[62]

In , DiMaggio became a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank. Except for a five-year hiatus in the s, he regularly made commercials for them until ^[63] In , he became a spokesperson for Florida's Cross Keys Village, an active retirement community.^[64]

Television programs

Beginning in April , DiMaggio had minute programs on Channel 11 in New York City before and after each Yankees' home game.

Episodes included interviews with guests and DiMaggio's comments about baseball. The team owned the program, with DiMaggio under contract to the Yankees. He also did Joe DiMaggio's Dugout on Channel 4 in New York City, a weekly filmed program unrelated to the pre-and post-game shows. It featured instructional sessions and quizzes for young people.^[65]

Death

DiMaggio was a heavy smoker for much of his adult life.^[66] He was admitted to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, on October 12, , for lung cancer surgery and remained there for 99&#;days.^[67] He returned to his home in Hollywood, Florida, on January 19, , where he died on March 8 at age DiMaggio's attorney, Morris Engleberg reported that his last words were, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn," referencing his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe.^[59]

DiMaggio's funeral was held on March 11, , at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco,^[68] and he was interred three months later at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.^[69] His son also died that year, on August 6, at age ^[70]

Legacy

At his death, The New York Times called DiMaggio's game hitting streak "perhaps the most enduring record in sports."^[58]

According to American geneticist Mary-Claire King, in the spring of DiMaggio babysat her daughter at the San Francisco airport so King could drop her mother off to her flight to Chicago.

According to King, if it were not for DiMaggio's kindness, she would have almost certainly missed her own flight that was taking her and her daughter to Washington, D.C., a trip that eventually resulted in King's getting her first major grant from the National Institutes of Health and the discovery of the breast and ovarian cancer-causing gene BRCA1.^[71]

On September 17, , the doors were opened at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, for which he raised over $4&#;million.^[58]

On April 13, , DiMaggio was given the Sports Legend Award at the 13th annual American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame Awards Dinner in New York City.

Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and a longtime fan of DiMaggio, made the presentation to the Yankee great. The event was one of DiMaggio's last public appearances before taking ill.

Yankee Stadium's fifth monument was dedicated to DiMaggio on April 25, , and the West Side Highway was officially renamed The Joe DiMaggio Highway in his honor.

The Yankees wore DiMaggio's number 5 on the left sleeves of their uniforms for the season. He is ranked No. 11 on The Sporting News' list of the Greatest Baseball Players, and he was elected by fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In addition to his number 5 being retired by the New York Yankees, DiMaggio's number was also retired by the Florida Marlins, who retired it in honor of their first team president, Carl Barger, who died five months before the team took the field for the first time in DiMaggio had been his favorite player.

In after some negotiations,^[72] the heirs of Joe DiMaggio's estate, two granddaughters and their four children, welcomed the renaming of San Francisco's North Beach playground, the place where Joe DiMaggio first took up baseball as a boy, as the Joe DiMaggio North Beach Playground.^[73]

In , Major League Baseball introduced an online daily fantasy game called "Beat the Streak" which required players to pick one or two MLB players to get a hit in a game that day.

The goal was to pick correctly 57 times in a row to beat DiMaggio's record streak. As of August ^[update], the prize money for beating the streak was $ million; more than million players had combined to make over million attempts but none had reached even 52 consecutive hits in the game's history.^[74]

In May , the adopted daughters of DiMaggio's son held an auction of DiMaggio's personal items.

Highlights included the ball he hit in breaking Wee Willie Keeler's hitting-streak record ($63,); his 2,th career hit ball ($29,); his Most Valuable Player Award ($,); the uniform worn in the World Series ($,); his Hall of Fame ring ($69,); a photograph Marilyn autographed "I love you Joe" ($80,); her passport ($,); and their marriage certificate ($23,).

Lot , DiMaggio's white Mercedes SEL sedan, which was a gift from the New York Yankees commemorating the 50th anniversary of DiMaggio's season, sold for $18, The event netted a total of $&#;million.

On August 8, , the United States Postal Service announced that an image of DiMaggio would appear on a stamp for the first time.

It was issued as part of the "Major League Baseball All-Star Stamp Series," which came out in July ^[75]

DiMaggio insisted on being introduced as the "Greatest Living Ballplayer" at events, including Yankee Old-Timers Day, and he once punched Billy Crystal in the stomach for not introducing him as such.^[76]

In , the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored DiMaggio as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army Air Force during World War II.^[77]

The Joe DiMaggio Fields in his hometown of Martinez, California, are named after him.

There is a Joe DiMaggio Street in San Antonio, Texas.^[78]

Career statistics

DiMaggio played in 10 World Series, winning 9. His only loss was in the World Series. He batted (54–), with 27 runs scored, 8 home runs, and 30 RBI in 51 post-season games.

In popular culture

An American icon, DiMaggio's popularity during his career was such that he was referenced in film, television, literature, art, and music both during his career and decades after he retired.

Art

Literature

Music

Movies

Theatre

See also

References