{"id":486,"date":"2014-11-24T19:24:52","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T15:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/?p=486"},"modified":"2015-01-02T07:25:28","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T03:25:28","slug":"cenntanni-clipper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/?p=486","title":{"rendered":"Cent’anni, Clipper!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jd\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardly in need of another tribute, one of the most feted men of the Twentieth Century turns 100 tomorrow. Sure, he\u2019s been gone for nearly two decades, but Joe DiMaggio\u2019s place as an American icon stands as strong today as it did more than 60 years ago, when in fact Joe played his last game. Like most people alive today I never saw him play, but I consider him an idol and an inspiration, a man with few equals among athletes and celebrities, and the blurred line between those groups.<\/p>\n

In one of the first posts on this site I paid tribute to Joe D. on what would have been his 99th<\/sup> birthday. The piece was mostly taken from an essay I put together shortly after DiMaggio died in 1999. I was 16, half the man I am today, yet no less taken by grown men paid to play a kids\u2019 game. I reproduce the piece from 2013 in its entirety here:<\/p>\n

Ninety-nine years ago today in the quiet fishing village of Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children born to Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio entered the world, probably to little fanfare. The fanfare began soon after, and continued to the end of the century.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only the truly exceptional athlete who transcends his sport and becomes a national icon the way Joe DiMaggio did, beginning at a very young age and continuing long after his playing days were over. Nearly every man of a certain age considered DiMaggio his favorite player, as did legions of non-fans who knew nothing of the game but appreciated his humble upbringing and grace off the field. In an era in which players\u2019 personal lives were whitewashed by willing reporters and clever PR men, DiMaggio was nothing short of a saint. Even now, a few damning stories and biographies later, DiMaggio epitomizes dignity and professionalism both on and off the playing field.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a fan of the great DiMaggio since I was seven years old. That was 38 years after he played his final game. DiMaggio in my family, though, held a place similar to that of John Kennedy or the Pope in Catholic families across America. The following is from a piece I composed for a high school writing class at age 16, shortly after Dimaggio\u2019s death at age 84.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Few Americans have captivated the nation\u2019s attention like Joe DiMaggio.\u00a0 He played baseball with a grace and style that is no longer found in today\u2019s game.\u00a0 Just as important was his behavior off the field.\u00a0 Uniquely American as baseball is, it seems baseball stars are more than just entertainers; they are our idols.\u00a0 (I think this was even more true in Joe\u2019s playing days.)\u00a0 Many of today\u2019s professional baseball players, no matter how well they play the game, do not portray positive role models off the field.\u00a0 Players are often arrested for drunk driving or caught starting fights in bars (not to mention the dreaded paternity suit).\u00a0 Even seemingly benevolent Mark McGwire sets a bad example for young people: steroid use (ephemerally legal as it may be).\u00a0 Let us not forget Dimaggio\u2019s military service during World War II, costing him three seasons in which he was in his prime.\u00a0 (Many players left professional baseball during the war.)\u00a0 I find it hard to believe that any of today\u2019s players would want to leave their million-dollar homes to fight in a war overseas.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It would be hard to pinpoint DiMaggio\u2019s best season.\u00a0 One thing is for certain: he never had a bad one.\u00a0 Joe retired when he was only (I use the word loosely) thirty-six, so he never lapsed into mediocrity (which happens to players who simply can\u2019t give up the game after their talents have left).\u00a0 During his career, DiMaggio was a model of consistency; his most notable baseball achievement is his incredible record of hitting safely in fifty-six consecutive games (he had a sixty-one game streak in the minors).\u00a0 So often today\u2019s players seem lackadaisical in unimportant games.\u00a0 Said Joe when asked why he gives it all in every game, \u201cBecause there might be somebody out there who\u2019s never seen me play before.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So why is this fisherman from Martinez, California, revered as an American icon?\u00a0 According to teammate Tommy Henrich, \u201cHe does everything better than anyone else.\u201d\u00a0 Yankees manager Casey Stengel said of DiMaggio, \u201cHe makes big league baseball look so simple.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t so simple.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The man was married to Marilyn Monroe and played centerfield for the New York Yankees.\u00a0 That\u2019s tough to top.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In DiMaggio\u2019s nearly forty-eight years of being retired from baseball, he truly was a living legend.\u00a0 There was something about him that gave him an air of deity.\u00a0 He would go to Old Timer\u2019s Day every year at Yankee Stadium, but in later years he never played.\u00a0 He would be there in a suit, probably throw out the first pitch (as he did quite often), and salute the crowd.\u00a0 That was it.\u00a0 That was Joe DiMaggio.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So, \u201cWhere have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?\u201d This line, from Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cMrs. Robinson,\u201d troubled Joe when he first heard it.\u00a0 After all, everyone knew where Joe was: he was Mr. Coffee.\u00a0 Paul Simon met DiMaggio at a benefit once and explained the misunderstanding.\u00a0 The line was not meant to be taken literally. Paul Simon used \u201cJoe DiMaggio\u201d as a symbol for a true American idol (of which we were lacking in 1967 \u00a0and still are).\u00a0 To me, a more effective lyric would have been, \u201cWhere has your style gone, all you American positive role models, such as Yankee baseball great Joe DiMaggio?\u00a0 We need some new role models; not necessarily you, Joe, but someone younger maybe.\u201d\u00a0 However, this line would have been difficult to fit in the song.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not as though DiMaggio\u2019s death came as a surprise to anyone.\u00a0 (We had been prepared for it since about September.)\u00a0 In what turned out to be the last six months of Joe\u2019s life, the American public was bombarded with news about his health.\u00a0 Every three days or so, the front page of the Sports section would contain a headline and a brief article about DiMaggio\u2019s condition.\u00a0 There were really only two articles: one said that Joe had suffered a tremendous setback and that the end was near; the other, said that Joe had made a miraculous recovery and would be returning to his newspaper reporter job in Metropolis shortly.\u00a0 (These two articles were run alternately every three days from September to March.)\u00a0 My theory is that we simply wanted to root for Joltin\u2019 Joe one more time.\u00a0 A game is more exciting when it goes back and forth, and that is exactly what the media portrayed.\u00a0 The media (namely, NBC) was also responsible for making Joe\u2019s recovery truly a miracle.\u00a0 (This would come in handy if Joe were ever up for canonization.)\u00a0 For about twenty minutes in December, Joe was dead.\u00a0 The peacocks at NBC were the first to break the story (and, actually, the only ones).\u00a0 The error was rectified when a friend of DiMaggio\u2019s called the company.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No one is perfect. Not even baseball gods like Joltin\u2019 Joe. But even flawed gods give us something to root for, perhaps even more so than would infallible ones. I reserve a special place for DiMaggio in my life, the baseball-playing uncle from California I never had. I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who feels this way. So, here\u2019s to you, Joe DiMaggio, as timeless at 99 as you ever were.<\/p>\n

Make that an even cento.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hardly in need of another tribute, one of the most feted men of the Twentieth Century turns 100 tomorrow. Sure, he\u2019s been gone for nearly two decades, but Joe DiMaggio\u2019s place as an American icon stands as strong today as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=486"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeoconnelljr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}