Joe D thoughts

[w7imel]

Quick thoughts on this Dimaggio auto? I feel its ok but welcome other opions before I pursue.

[David Atkatz]

Joe D? He was a selfish, self-centered prick. He had no friends, and even his son and brothers despised him. A malignant narcissist.

Oh... you meant the autograph.

Never mind.

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Joe D? He was a selfish, self-centered prick. He had no friends, and even his son and brothers despised him. A malignant narcissist.

Oh... you meant the autograph.

Never mind.

I continually hear horror stories of Dimaggio, and it's always bit me. I met him at a golf tournament that my grandfather helped operate when I was around 10 (so 1992 or 1993) and he couldn't have been more cordial. Basically I spent a half hour in golf cart with him I left believing my upcoming little league season would be the most important two months of my life. Maybe it was because I wasn't trying to trick him into signing a picture of him and Marilyn, or maybe it was because he was paid to sit in a cart and glad-happy whomever he passed, but for a half hour he made the pudgy catcher for the Smith County Drug Astros his focus. David, when it comes to vintage autos and what you try to do for the hobby I respect you immensely, but Joe D. made me feel like one cool mother$%@% for a blink of an eye 20 years ago. I'll take it.

[jimjim]

Looks good to me

[shelly]

Steve.I was in Anaheim at the National. Scott DeStefano gets a call from the police that Joe is being arrested.
He goes to a restaurant called the White House very expensive and very good. He is there with three people. The check comes and he says to the owner I am not paying this I will sign some pictures for you. The owner says are you out of your mind. Joe then reply,s I am Joe Dimaggio the greatest living ball player in the world.. The owner of the place tells him I don,t care if you Jesus you pay the bill or I call the police.
He called the police.
I met him at least a 3 dozen times and at no time was he anything but an ass. You must of had a lucky day.

By the way the ball

[bigtrain]

I also had the misfortune of meeting Joe DiMaggio on a couple of occasions. The comments by David are generous in my opinion. To say that he was a "malignant narcissist" is an insult to those jerks who are merely "malignant narcissists". BTW it always got me that he insisted on being introduced as "the greatest living ballplayer". When was that ever true? Ty Cobb lived until 1961. By the mid 60s, in my opinion, Willie Mays had established himself as the greatest living ballplayer (or Hank Aaron if you prefer). DiMaggio was the greatest in his own mind.

[dapro]

Looks good to me as well.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by shelly

Steve.I was in Anaheim at the National. Scott DeStefano gets a call from the police that Joe is being arrested.
He goes to a restaurant called the White House very expensive and very good. He is there with three people. The check comes and he says to the owner I am not paying this I will sign some pictures for you. The owner says are you out of your mind. Joe then reply,s I am Joe Dimaggio the greatest living ball player in the world.. The owner of the place tells him I don,t care if you Jesus you pay the bill or I call the police.
He called the police.
I met him at least a 3 dozen times and at no time was he anything but an ass. You must of had a lucky day.

By the way the ball

Shelly,
I know the owner of the White House restaurant (Bruno S.). How funny!
I had never heard this story before. What a classic!!

[Klrdds]

Your baseball looks great.
The Joe D " greatest living ball player" started in 1969 when Joe was named to the greatest living ball player team as part of baseball's centennial celebration . He was named to the team as an outfielder along with Mays and Williams. Now that part is fact and here comes the part that has been conjecture for a long time( I first heard this in the late 1980s at Hofstra and heard versions of this story several times from different sources over the years) so who knows if this is true or not but here it goes. Since Joe was a Yankee and had won all those World Championships , more than the others on the greatest living team, and had the ego to go with it he took up the self-appointed label of " greatest living ball player" yet there is no true record of him being formally announced as " the greatest living ball player" only that he was on the team . There are very few records concerning this announcement. He kept this self- appointed title his whole life from 1969 until his death, but it did not become a big deal to fans or even other ball players until the card show / autograph business began in the 1980s and he wanted to be introduced as " the greatest living ball player". This nickname was not only propagated by Joe but also by The National Pastime card shows in the 80s when promoting their shows at The Armenian Church and continuing throughout their relationship and then being carried over to all the shows Joe did the remainder of his life. He started it , the promoters promoted it, MLB did nothing to change it, and the public bought into it.
In fact to my knowledge Joe never signed ANY item as " the greatest living ball player" , even though there are items with inscriptions , which Joe did reluctantly there are supposedly NO authentic items with that inscription. Basically Joe anointed himself as royalty and assumed that persona because everyone accepted it.
This is not meant to bash Joe but to shed light on his nickname. I dealt with Joe directly about 6 times and only had an issue with him once. He was cordial but always distant , and maybe he was just born that way.

[Scott Garner]

Interesting story about Joe D.

A bit OT, but...

In 1969 for the Centennial of MLB Bob Feller was actually voted "The Greatest Living Right Handed Pitcher" (he didn't create this title himself- LOL). I had Rapid Robert sign these 1969 MLB commemorative stamps with that inscription about 2 years before he passed away.

RIP Mr. Feller

[w7imel]

Damn I just wanted to know if ball looked good but now you guys got me disliking the guy. I never knew he was such a dick. haha dont even think I am going to bid on the ball now. I never knew that he was so difficult as a person. But thinking of it my wife would probably have similar things to say about me......

[TUM301]

Don`t have and never want any J. Dimaggio items in my collection. Now his brother that`s a different story.

[shelly]

As far as the worlds greatest living ball player. Mickey Mantle would tell people that he would play with his balls better than anyone living.

[71buc]

Originally Posted by TUM301

Don`t have and never want any J. Dimaggio items in my collection. Now his brother that`s a different story.

I only have a handful of DiMaggio items in my collection. I wish I could afford more. Although I never saw him grace centerfield my father who despises the Yankees did. When he describes watching Joe D. track down a fly ball or the savage beauty of his swing it is the only time my dad sounds poetic. Although he may have been a churlish pr!ck it's irrelevant in my dad's memories. He says Dimaggio was cool before Elvis picked up a guitar. Because baseball is a game passed from fathers to sons my opinion of DiMaggio reflects my father's childhood remembrances. Baseball players are human. Some embody what is best in us (Clemente) and some reflect our darkest sides (Cap Anson). Jackson Pollock was a mess but that doesn't serve to diminish his art. In Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" Santiago says "But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of a bone spur in his heel" If DiMaggio was good enough for my father, Hemingway, and Santiago he is good enough for me.

[w7imel]

Guess I will just stick to my Cobb collecting. I am reading a book about cobbs life written by charles alexander and find it amazing the several different ways he has changed not just baseball but all sports both on and off the field. thanks again for opinions on ball. I like it to be real as well.

[w7imel]

Very well put 71buc (mike). +++1

[shelly]

Your dad is not alone. Many people think that of Joe the player .
The problem is that your dad probably never meet him. If he had I would feel he would think differently of the man.
Here is a guy who never said he was sorry to Mantle. Here is a guy that at an old timers game would not sign an autograph for Moose Skoworn. Here is a guy that had a time limit when you had him at a show. If you had people in line he would get up and leave. Here is a guy that would only sign a few balls at a show and then have his buddy have booth that sold his autograph balls for him.
Yes he might have been a great ball player but not a great man.

[w7imel]

Nice insight shelly. I would have never guessed it. I think if I was in those shoes i would act different. Had several Joe D signings at sports shows in denver when I lived there and didnt have the 150 a ball at the time and now glad i didnt spend the money on it now. I learn something new here every day for sure

[71buc]

Originally Posted by shelly

Your dad is not alone. Many people think that of Joe the player .
The problem is that your dad probably never meet him. If he had I would feel he would think differently of the man.
Here is a guy who never said he was sorry to Mantle. Here is a guy that at an old timers game would not sign an autograph for Moose Skoworn. Here is a guy that had a time limit when you had him at a show. If you had people in line he would get up and leave. Here is a guy that would only sign a few balls at a show and then have his buddy have booth that sold his autograph balls for him.
Yes he might have been a great ball player but not a great man.

I can't argue with that. However, I looked to my father as an example of how a man comports himself. DiMaggio was just an example of a supremely talented baseball player nothing more nothing less. Manhood and manners have nothing to do with athletic greatness. It must have been a sad and lonely way for a baseball legend to navigate his way through his post baseball life.

On a lighter note, my dad loved Ted Williams as well. He tells me stories of how he and my uncle would sit in the leftfield stands at Municipal and call Teddy Ballgame names and boo him. He still laughs when describing how Williams would give them the finger or bend over to tie his shoes and then grab his ass in response to them. My dad claims that when Williams would respond in that manner he elevated himself in their young eyes. Based on those recollections perhaps my dad’s memory isn’t a very good barometer of 1940’s and 1950’s class.