Happy 100th Birthday Joe Di Maggio

[harlem86]

Read it on the back of a baseball card last week and checked it on wikipedia.

Its Joe DiMaggio's 100th Birthday today.

BTW, This summer, I was on vacation from Buffalo, NY and I was in Martinez, CA at the DiMaggio Bakery, and went to the street that was named after him, and spent some time looking in San Francisco trying to find areas where Joe may have played.

I never saw him play or anything like that but thought is was cool to try to find things out about him.

Found no Zeenuts out there...thought they might be laying around for the taking in some antique shops boy was I wrong....

Well back to work...

[Leon]

Joe D and my daughter share the same birthday. She turned 18 today. :eek:

http://luckeycards.com/pfunc1940smandmsjoedimaggioclub.jpg

[scooter729]

At the ripe age of 41, at the 1955 HOF induction, Joe D. graced this ball with his signature. Some 59 years later, it remains one of my favorite items!

[triwak]

HBD, Mr. Coffee!

[Jay Wolt]

Had Dimag (& Ted Williams) sign this piece at an Atlantic City card show in '89.
Both were gentleman & a pleasure to talk to

http://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/fdc1939.jpg

[batsballsbases]

Joe D and my daughter share the same birthday. She turned 18 today. :eek:

http://luckeycards.com/pfunc1940smandmsjoedimaggioclub.jpg

See Leon I knew we had something in common!! Its mine too! Wish your daughter a Happy Birthday! Tell her also it was JFK Jrs Birthday Also!!

[DeanH3]

Met Joe D. at a San Jose show in the late 80's and had him sign this photo. I left very impressed and I have been a Joe D. fan ever since.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m52/DHack3/Autographed%20Photos/scan0004.jpg

[tschock]

Had Dimag (& Ted Williams) sign this piece at an Atlantic City card show in '89.
Both were gentleman & a pleasure to talk to

http://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/fdc1939.jpg

Cool piece. And the best thing is that you don't need to tell anyone who the signatures are since they are all legible!

[Jay Wolt]

Taylor it took me about 2 decades to assemble its. Its the 100th anniversary of Baseball stamp First Day Cover in 1939 to commemorate the opening of the Hall Of Fame.
All signatures are of players who are Hall Of Famer's and played in 1939 except Waite Hoyt who retired a year earlier.
It now resides in my sons collection and will be earmarked to give to his son who is 3 now on the 100th anniversary of the piece.

I imagine if my grandfather would have done this for me w/ signatures from Cap Anson, Roger Connor, John Ward, John Clarkson and the like.

[philliesphan]

I met Joe D. approximately 22 years ago, at Barry Halper's house. One of my favourite collecting memories:

http://photos.imageevent.com/ltsgallery/memberfoldersko/mikeschmidt/phillies/websize/MeandJoeD.jpg

[ethicsprof]

I saw him hit a homerun in an old timers game aeons ago but he's etched in
my memory like yesterday.

all the best,
barry

[thetruthisoutthere]

At the ripe age of 41, at the 1955 HOF induction, Joe D. graced this ball with his signature. Some 59 years later, it remains one of my favorite items!

Very nice, Scott.

[Peter_Spaeth]

One of the books about him, I forget which now, portrays him as a complete asshole but that seems contrary to a lot of anecdotal evidence. For example there's a couple of youtube videos of him on What's My Line and he's quite affable and seemingly genuine.

[Jobu]

Peter - the newest Mantle bio The Last Boy also doesn’t paint Joe D in a very favorable light though he is admittedly a minor part of it. And now for my anecdote.

--------

I met Joe D in 199(5?) at the National in Chicago. I think he was charging $150 for an autograph so a teenage Jobu didn’t get one. However, my tale does not end here.

As luck would have it, my brother, father and I all chose to relieve ourselves mere seconds before Joe made the same call. My brother, 13 months younger than me, pissed to my left while Joe D, unbeknownst to me, pissed to my right. My brother started elbowing me and making noises in an effort to get me to look to my right. Thinking this was just typical younger brother harassment intended to cause me to break urinal etiquette and look at the guy next to me, I told him to knock it off and went to wash my hands. When I turned around from the sink I came face to face with Joe, who was stopped and looking right at me while waiting for my sink. My reaction must have been priceless, mouth immediately flying open and eyes wide, because Joe cracked a smile and said “Gotta take a piss, huh kid?” while he tapped me lightly on the arm. I was too shocked to offer much of a response, I think I cracked a half smile and nodded yes. But wait, there is more!

My dad, born in 1943, brother and I then walked out of the restroom grinning like kids who had just been given $50 and were about to be set loose in a candy store. As we slowly walked away, smiling from our encounter, I learned that my father did not share my concern for restroom etiquette, or at least was willing to break the rules if the situation required it. It turns out he was pissing to Joe D’s right and had recognized his neighbor. He broke the silence by uttering a statement that I will never forget “I just saw the unit that was in Marilyn Monroe.”

I want to say happy birthday to Joe and thank you for being such a gentleman (though things might have turned out differently had he noticed my father!). Your willingness to interact with your fans gave me my favorite baseball story, one featuring an all-time great from baseball’s golden age and a bonding moment for the boys in my family. These two things, great players and shared moments, are what baseball is all about.

[Fred]

Here's Joe and (4) other MLers during WW2. Wow, that picture is 70 years old now...



http://www.net54baseball.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169207&stc=1&d=1416975740

[Fred]

Bryan,

That's a great story... thanks for sharing that, made my night.

[Bored5000]

One of the books about him, I forget which now, portrays him as a complete asshole but that seems contrary to a lot of anecdotal evidence.

"The Hero's Life" by Richard Ben Cramer.

[EvilKing00]

Peter - the newest Mantle bio The Last Boy also doesn’t paint Joe D in a very favorable light though he is admittedly a minor part of it. And now for my anecdote.

--------

I met Joe D in 199(5?) at the National in Chicago. I think he was charging $150 for an autograph so I didn’t get one. However, my tale does not end here.

As luck would have it, my brother, father and I all chose to relieve ourselves mere seconds before Joe made the same call. My brother, 13 months younger than me, pissed to my left while Joe D, unbeknownst to me, pissed to my right. My brother started elbowing me and making noises in an effort to get me to look to my right. Thinking this was just typical younger brother harassment intended to cause me to break urinal etiquette and look at the guy next to me, I told him to knock it off and went to wash my hands. When I turned around from the sink I came face to face with Joe, who was stopped and looking right at me while waiting for my sink. My reaction must have been priceless, mouth immediately flying open and eyes wide, because Joe cracked a smile and said “Gotta take a piss, huh kid?” while he tapped me lightly on the arm. I was too shocked to offer much of a response, I think I cracked a half smile and nodded yes. But wait, there is more!

My dad, born in 1943, brother and I then walked out of the restroom grinning like kids who had just been given $50 and were about to be set loose in a candy store. As we slowly walked away, smiling from our encounter, I learned that my father did not share my concern for restroom etiquette, or at least was willing to break the rules if the situation required it. It turns out he was pissing to Joe D’s right and had recognized his neighbor. He broke the silence by uttering a statement that I will never forget “I just saw the unit that was in Marilyn Monroe.”

I want to say happy birthday to Joe and thank you for being such a gentleman (though things might have turned out differently had he noticed my father!). Your willingness to interact with your fans gave me my favorite baseball story, one featuring an all-time great from baseball’s golden age and a bonding moment for the boys in my family. These two things, great players and shared moments, are what baseball is all about.

Fantastic story! Great line from your dad!

[Jobu]

Glad y'all enjoyed it - I still smile every time I think about it.

[Peter_Spaeth]

"The Hero's Life" by Richard Ben Cramer.

Right, read it a number of years ago, it just seemed gratuitously nasty and one-sided.

[CMIZ5290]

One of the books about him, I forget which now, portrays him as a complete asshole but that seems contrary to a lot of anecdotal evidence. For example there's a couple of youtube videos of him on What's My Line and he's quite affable and seemingly genuine.

Peter- I here you, and that's what I always heard. I had a couple of relatives in Pro sports, and one of the biggest things you heard about DiMaggio was his nastiness and dislike towards Mantle. Let's face it, they were two completely different superstars. Also, his reluctance about autographs out in public was fairly well known. I wish I knew the true story behind him and Mantle....

[harlem86]

Just getting back to the thread. Thanks for all the stories they all made great reading.

[itjclarke]

My best friend's grandpa was one of Joe D's golf buddies, but I never got to meet the man.. and regretfully, never got to see him (or many many many other greats) play.

Some cool stories so far (laughed about the "unit", which was apparently legendary), and seems further proof that people are often much more than their oft publicized personna/reputation.

169319169320

[EvilKing00]

361 home runs, 369 strikeouts :eek: