Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright. This is game 33 of the 2006 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 5 week of June.
June 28
1949 Joe DiMaggio returns to the line-up after missing the first 69 games of the season due to an ailing heel. The Yankee Clipper will hit four home runs in a three-game sweep against the Red Sox.
Joseph Paul DiMaggio , who’s birth name was actually Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr. was born November 25, 1914 in Martinez, California.
The eighth of nine children, DiMaggio was born in a two-room house to Sicilian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco, California when Joe was one year old.
Know as the Yankee Clipper and Joltin’ Joe, DiMaggio could do everything well. He may have been the best all-around player ever. His natural talent became apparent in 1933 when he batted safely in 61 consecutive games playing for his hometown San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League. Scouts flocked to see him, but they shied away when DiMaggio injured a knee. The Yankees’ interest continued, however, and a deal was arranged in 1934 that allowed DiMaggio to play one more year with the Seals. He came to New York in 1936 and set American League rookie records for runs with 132 and triples with 15, besides hitting .323 with 29 Home Runs and 125 Runs Batted In. He was an instant star.
DiMaggio had an exceptionally wide stance that gave him a controlled short stride, strong wrists that generated enormous power, and the ability to wait until the last instant before lashing into a pitch.
His 46 homers in 1937, including a Major League record 15 in July, remain a Yankee record for a righthanded hitter. What makes his Home Run total more impressive is that he played half his games at Yankee Stadium, then the toughest power park in baseball for right handers. At the time left-centerfield extended 457 feet from the plate. His highest batting average came in 1939 when he batted .381.
DiMaggio had two major league careers, one before World War II and the other after it. In each year from1936 to 1942 he hit over .300 and exceeded 100 Runs Batted In. This was the time of his magical 56-game hitting streak. The streak went a dozen games beyond Wee Willie Keeler’s 1897 consecutive-game record of 44 and 15 games beyond what had been the modern record, George Sisler’s 41-game string of 1922. DiMaggio’s streak began on May 15, 1941. It kept an entire nation enthralled through June and half of July, before two great plays by Cleveland third baseman Ken Keltner ended it on July 17.
DiMaggio hit .407 during the streak and edged Boston’s Ted Williams for the AL MVP award, even though Williams hit .406 that year while DiMaggio hit .357.
Following the U.S. entrance in World War II, DiMaggio enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on February 17, 1943, rising to the rank of Sergeant. The war took three prime years from DiMaggio’s baseball life.
His second career was beset by injuries and then eroding skills, but he was still DiMaggio. The Yankees were World Champions in 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1951. Even while playing most of 1948 with a painful heel injury, DiMaggio almost brought the Yankees to another championship. The Yankees lost out to the Red Sox and Indians on the next-to-last day of the season, but DiMaggio led the league in home runs with 39 and Runs Batted In with 155.
DiMaggio’s career seemed over in 1949. He was unable to stand on his sore heel without pain and was unable to play. After missing the season’s first 65 games he came back to lead the Yankees to a three-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park with four homers and nine Runs Batted In.
Two of Joe’s brothers also had successful major league careers. Older brother Vince played primarily for the Pirates as well as 4 other teams in his 10 year major league career. Younger brother Dom played 12 plus seasons for the Red Sox.
On the personal side, DiMaggio married actress Dorothy Arnold in 1939. Even before their son Joseph III was born, the marriage was in trouble. He came to resent how she complained about his off-the-field activities while she spent his money. But when Dorothy threatened divorce in 1942, the usually unflappable DiMaggio went into a slump. After the season, she went to Reno, Nevada for a divorce but he followed her and was able to bring her back. After he enlisted in the Army and was sent to Hawaii, she returned to Reno and obtained a divorce.
The relationship continued off and on. Dorothy reportedly promised Joe she would wait for him to return from training camp in 1946, but married another man. It was only after he met another blonde actress on a blind date that he finally got her out of his system.
Marilyn Monroe and DiMaggio were at different points in their lives when they met in 1952. The just-retired Joe wanted to settle down while Marilyn’s career was about to take off. Their marriage on January 14, 1954 was the culmination of a courtship that had captivated the nation.
Their relationship was loving yet complex, marred by his jealousy and her ambition. Marilyn filed for divorce just 274 days after the wedding,
He re-entered her life as her marriage to Arthur Miller was ending. On February 10, 1961, DiMaggio secured Monroe’s release from a psychiatric clinic. She joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for the Yankees. Their “just friends” claim didn’t stop remarriage rumors from flying.
Joe was so alarmed by Marilyn’s return to her self-destructive ways that he quit his job with a military post-exchange supplier on August 1, 1962 to return to California to ask her to remarry him. But before he could, she was found dead on August 5, a probable suicide. Devastated, he claimed her body, and arranged her funeral. He had a half-dozen red roses delivered 3 times a week to her crypt for the next 20 years.
Following lung cancer surgery on October 14, 1998, DiMaggio fell into an 18-hour coma on December 11 but recovered and was finally taken home on January 19, 1999. Days later, NBC broadcast a premature obituary. It is claimed that DiMaggio was watching TV and saw it.
Joe DiMaggio was a 3-time Most Valuable Player and 13-time All-Star who was widely hailed for his accomplishment on both offense and defense, as well as for the grace with which he played the game. He was a splendid defensive outfielder with a great throwing arm. He was virtually flawless in 1947, making one lone error on the year.
In 6821 career at bats he struck out only 369 times while hitting 361 homers, a phenomenal ratio for a power hitter.
During the centennial celebration of professional baseball, DiMaggio was named the game’s greatest living player. Since that 1969 assessment, DiMaggio’s legend has grown with the fans. He remained a top celebrity almost 40 years after playing his final game.
Joe DiMaggio was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955,
He died March 8, 1999, in Hollywood, Florida
His hitting streak has been used to compare similar feats in other sports.
Johnny Unitas throwing at least 1 TD in 47 consecutive games is often cited as football’s version.
Martina Navratilova referred to her 74 straight match wins as “my DiMaggio streak.”
Wayne Gretzky’s 51-game point-scoring run also was compared with the streak.
DiMaggio was given the nickname “Yankee Clipper” by broadcaster Arch McDonald for the gracefulness of his play in the field. The Yankee Clipper was a sailing ship in the 19th century that was fast and light and graceful, just like DiMaggio.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: E
earned run average
A pitcher’s statistic representing the average number of runs legitimately scored from his deliveries for a full nine-inning game, 27 outs. The figure is usually carried to two decimal points. It is computed by multiplying the number of earned runs times 9, which is then divided by the number of innings pitched; for example, if a pitcher has worked 20 innings and has given up seven earned runs, his earned run average is 9 times 7 = 63 divided by 20 = 3.15. Along with the won-lost record, this statistic is the mark of a pitcher’s efficiency over the course of a season. Generally, an earned run average of less than 3.00 is considered excellent.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
The San Jose Giants have been a class “A” affiliate of the San Francisco Giants since 1988 and play in the California League. And this from their website:
Home field for the San Jose Giants is fan friendly, historic San Jose Municipal Stadium. Built in 1942 with $800,000 in WPA funds, San Jose Muni provides her fans with the feeling of baseball as it should be. All seats provide close up viewing where not only can you see all the action, you can hear it, too. Players are accessible nightly for autographs and photos.
The California League is one of three high class “A’ minor leagues, along with the Carolina League and the Florida State League. The League is comprised of ten teams, five in the south and five in the north. The five southern teams play in the sprawling metropolitan areas of southern California. Four of the five northern teams are located in California’s growing Central Valley. The San Jose Giants are the Bay Area’s only minor league baseball team.
For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an
Extra Inning
And now, what I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for. We have a winner! Larry Halderman of Atascadero CA. Larry says he grew up in OC and is an Angel fan. He also says that Atascadero in Spanish means “place where you get stuck” or “mud hole”. I get it Larry, pretty funny.
On Quiz #1 the question was: Who was the first baseball player to have his uniform number retired?
And Larry said “According to my 2006 Angel’s Baseball Calendar, it listed Hall of Fame player Lou Gehrig, who wore uniform #4.
Congratulations Larry!!
So, what were the chances that it would be an Angel fan?
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. Transcripts of the game can be found at baseballhistorypodcast.blogspot.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Joe DiMaggio,
Baseball Dictionary- Earned Run Average,
Tour- San Jose Giants
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