The great Joe DiMaggio was born on this day in 1914.

Ten Notes On Joe DiMaggio.

1. One of the most hollowed and unbreakable records in baseball and American sports history is Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak in 1941. The streak lasted from May 15th,1941 to July 15th. During the streak DiMaggio had 15 home runs, 55 rbi and hit .408. During that same time Ted Williams played 55 games and hit 12 home runs, 50 rbi and hit .412. Ted Williams hit .406 on the season. After DiMaggio’s streak was stopped, he started a new one of 17 games. DiMaggio had hits in 73 out of 74 games. While in the minor leagues Joe DiMaggio had a hitting streak of 61 straight games. Unbelievable.

2. Joe DiMaggio played his entire 13 year career with the New York Yankees. He was an All-Star 13 times. He is the only player in baseball history to be an All-Star in every season of their career. Amazing. In Joe D’s 13 seasons the Yankees won the World Series 9 out of 13 seasons.

3. There were three DiMaggio brothers who played in the major league as center fielders. Joe, of course was the greatest. Dom DiMaggio was an outstanding defensive center fielder for the Red Sox for many years and Vince DiMaggio also played in the majors.

4. Over the years whenever I talk to the old timers I love to talk to them about the ballplayers they saw. I always am curious “Who is the greatest player you ever saw?” The answer is always Joe DiMaggio. {I never talked to anyone who had seen The Babe}

5. There was/is always a debate about who was greater Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams. They were contemporaries, the greatest players in the American League in their day. Ted Williams was without doubt the greatest hitter between the two [and for my money the greatest hitter who ever lived} Joe DiMaggio was the greater all-around player and that is without doubt. Ted spent most of his time in the outfield thinking about his next at-bat. DiMaggio was one of the finest all-around ball players ever and one of the most elegant, he passed the eyeball test.

6. Joe DiMaggio’s career stats do not match up with some of the other greats- 361 home runs, 1537 RBI’s .325 career average. He led the league twice in home runs, twice in rbi’s twice in batting average and once in runs scored. Two reasons for this 1- he missed three prime seasons due to World War II, 1943-45. Those years he missed were when he was in his late 20’s he no doubt would have had monster seasons. 2- Towards the end of his career he battled injuries. Joe D. was also a very proud and vain man. He wasn’t going to go out and embarrass himself on the ball field. He retired at age 36. His famous quote was “There might be some kid who is seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best” In 1969 he was voted the greatest living baseball player. Of course he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was inducted in 1955. The Yankees have retired his #5.

7. The great book on Joe DiMaggio was Richard Ben Cramer’s “Joe DiMaggio’ which came out a decade ago. Joe D. does not come off well in the book. I think its an honest book though. Over the years I’ve heard a ton of Joe DiMaggio stories and most were not good.

8. Mickey Mantle came up to the majors when Joe DiMaggio was winding down. By all accounts Joe resented him and didn’t treat the young man well. Joe didn’t treat a lot of people well. Great ball player, not a great man.

9. Joe DiMaggio’s second marriage was to Marilyn Monroe. The marriage lasted 274 days. The marriage was filled with violence. DiMaggio though would later reconnect with Monroe and after her death would have a half dozen roses delivered to her grave for 20 years.

10. One thing I like about DiMaggio the man is that he wasn’t like these people today. He kept his mouth shut. He didn’t go on television spilling his guts about his problems and his life. He kept things private. He was old school. Joe DiMaggio, a heavy smoker for most of his life, died of lung cancer in 1999 at the age of 84.