Marilyn Monroe and Gus Zernial. Marilyn Monroe, then an up-and-coming actress, was brought to the White Sox training camp to take some promotional photographs. She posed with several players, including Gus Zernial, who was an outfielder for the team at the time. These photos were intended to help promote both Monroe's burgeoning film career and the baseball team.
The photographs from this shoot caught the attention of retired baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio, seeing the pictures in newspapers, humorously asked Zernial, "How come I never get to pose with beautiful girls like that?" This encounter indirectly led to the meeting between DiMaggio and Monroe, facilitated by the press agent who organized the shoot, David March. This was the beginning of their relationship, which would eventually lead to their marriage in 1954.
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