Posted on 11/25/2014 9:41:18 PM PST by PROCON
Joe DiMaggio would have turned 100 on Tuesday, so it seems appropriate to remember him as I do — as the finest baseball player I ever saw play our delicate little game.
Bobby Doerr, the Hall of Fame Red Sox second baseman, once told me his teammate Ted Williams was the best hitter of their time but that Joe was the best all-around player.
I grew up rooting for the Yankees as a kid in New Haven and, much later, when I got to know Joe well, I never failed to feel as if I were in the presence of a deity. Joe always acted as if he knew he was special.
I also got to know Dom DiMaggio, the youngest of the family and, in his own right, a superb center fielder for the Red Sox. The two brothers had drifted apart over the years, but as Joe lay dying, Dommy was loyal, and he and Joe shared some closing times.
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DiMaggio was a special baseball player, and there were a few great ones.
I was blessed to see many games of Ken Griffey Jr. as he rose to stardom with the Seattle Mariners. Hitting, fielding, this kid was good and should be a future Hall of Famer.
What baseball stars did you admire?
Sadly, I grew up in the 1980s. Besides Cal Ripken Jr and Tony Gwynne, all of my baseball heroes ended up disappointing me.
Sadly, I grew up in the 1980s. Besides Cal Ripken Jr and Tony Gwynne, all of my baseball heroes ended up disappointing me.
Our nation turns its’ lonely eyes to you.
Great song...
The Lemonheads did a great cover version.
wasnt he married to Marilyn Monroe ???
Yes Maam, but their marriage only lasted 9 months...
I don’t want to start a controversy here, but I admired Pete Rose, who gave his all as a player and made bad choices as a manager.
How about it guys, you got a favorite baseball player?
“Charlie Hustle” was a great baseball player!
Completely agree! As a player he left it all out there between the foul lines (which he would never step on as an admittedly superstitious manager).
Mays.
Rose was a great player, but soiled his own career with stupid arrogance after being caught gambling on baseball.
It's just that Charlie Hustle's mistakes came after his career as a player ended, much as Baseball Inc. for some time held (then-retired) Mr. Baseball's associations with casinos against him.
Just sayin'.
Willie Mayes
Yes but the love and devotion of Joe lasted a life time. Joe cared for her after the Kennedys threw her to the dogs.
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