Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, born on Nov. 25, 1914, in Martinez, Calif., was purchased from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League on Nov. 21, 1934, by the New York Yankees for $50,000, only days before his 20th birthday, beginning his storied 13-year Major League Baseball career that earned this centerfielder his nickname, 'The Yankee Clipper.' His historic 56-game hitting streak in 1941 remains an unbroken record. DiMaggio died from lung cancer at his home on March 8, 1999, in Hollywood, Fla. He was 84. Take a look back at DiMaggio's iconic life and career from a Bronx Bomber to a celebrity icon.
Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, born on Nov. 25, 1914, in Martinez, Calif., was purchased from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League on Nov. 21, 1934, by the New York Yankees for $50,000, only days before his 20th birthday, beginning his storied 13-year Major League Baseball career that earned this center fielder his nickname, “The Yankee Clipper.” His historic 56-game hitting streak in 1941, remains an unbroken record. DiMaggio died from lung cancer at his home on March 8, 1999, in Hollywood, Fla. He was 84. Here, DiMaggio is photographed in September 1941.
Former major league player Frank “Lefty” O’Doul, now in his first season as manager with the San Francisco Seals, is flanked by his two outfield aces, Joe Martyn, left, and Joe DiMaggio, right, on July 11, 1935. DiMaggio is hitting big with an average of .380 and likely will get a crack with the New York Yankees next year. Joe’s older brother Vince was playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League when he talked his manager into letting Joe fill in as a shortstop following an injury on the team. Joe made his professional baseball debut on Oct. 1, 1932, on the team and played for them until the end of the season in 1935.
A rousing welcome accords Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankee outfielder, and San Francisco’s baseball idol, when he returned home to San Franciso on Oct. 13, 1936, after taking part in the World Series in his first year in the majors. The sensational rookie rides up Market Street in the mayor’s car with his mother and a niece. After a short career with the Seals in the early 1930s, DiMaggio was signed to the New York Yankees on Nov. 21, 1934, and made his major league debut on May 3, 1936. The Yankees went to the World Series in 1936, the first time since 1932, and defeated the New York Giants.
Joe DiMaggio poses with his brother, Dominic DiMaggio, center, and his father, Joe DiMaggio, Sr., right, on Oct. 6, 1937. The New York Yankees won four consecutive World Series championships in Joe’s first four years with the team. He became the first American athlete to win that many championships in his first four seasons.
From the top are the Dimaggio brothers on Feb. 25, 1938: Joe, Dominic and Vince. They all went on to achieve notable careers in baseball. Dominic became a center fielder for the Boston Red Sox for 11 years and the youngest of the trio to do so. Vince spent his decade-long baseball career with various teams including Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates where he was a two-time All Star, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants.
Joe DiMaggio and the former Dorothy Arnold cut their wedding cake after being married on Nov. 19, 1939, at San Francisco’s St. Peter and Paul Church. As many as 20,000 well-wishers reportedly lined the streets near the church to get a glimpse of the new couple. In January 1937, DiMaggio met Arnold while on the set of “Manhattan Merry-Go-Round.” The couple instantly hit it off.
Dominic DiMaggio, left, and his brother, Joe; are at the All-Star Game on July 8, 1941, in Detroit, Mich. Joe was the eighth of nine children, born to Italian immigrant parents on Nov. 25, 1914, in Martinez, Calif. His father was a fisherman and wanted all five of his sons to follow in his footsteps. Joe, along with his two brothers Dominic and Vince, decided to play semi-pro baseball instead.
Joe DiMaggio lines a single to left field in the seventh inning of the second game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators on June 29, 1941, in Washington, D.C., to set a record for hitting safely in 42 consecutive games. In the first game, DiMaggio tied George Sisler’s record of 41 games, set in 1922. The Yankees won both games, 9-4, 7-5. By 1941, known as “the Yankee Clipper,” DiMaggio set an MLB record-breaking 56-game hitting streak. Beginning on May 15, 1941, DiMaggio began the historic streak in a game against the Chicago White Sox. After passing George Sisler’s record of 41 games, he went on to destroy Wee Willie Keeler’s 44 game record by July. By July 17, DiMaggio’s streak finally broke at 56 before he started yet another one that lasted 16 games.
Joe DiMaggio has great expectations for baby Joseph Paul DiMaggio III, who holds a miniature bat as his mother Dorothy watches, on Dec. 18, 1941, in their New York home. On Oct. 23, 1941, Joe DiMaggio and his wife Dorothy welcomed their first and only son into the world, Joe Jr. The couple ultimately divorced in 1944.
Joe DiMaggio, left, poses with Frank Sinatra in 1949, at Yankee Stadium, the year two path-forging men began a friendship, bonding over their shared Italian backgrounds. In 1954, their friendship came to an end during an incident coined the “Wrong-Door Raid” when the men broke into an apartment trying to catch Marilyn Monroe, who was separated from DiMaggio at the time, with another man, but instead disturbed a sleepy woman when they stormed the wrong apartment. DiMaggio didn’t speak to Sinatra much after the incident and completely estranged himself from Sinatra after rumors said he was trying to have a relationship with ex-wife Monroe.
Joe DiMaggio Jr., left, gives his father, the Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio, a big hug on Oct. 9, 1949, after the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Joe Jr., 57, died on Aug. 6, 1999, from natural causes, only five months after being a pallbearer at his father’s funeral. Joe Jr. was DiMaggio’s only son.
New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio carefully “bones” his bat in the clubhouse on March 6, 1950, at the team’s St. Petersburg, Fla., spring training camp. In 1949, DiMaggio became the first baseball player to break $100,000 in earnings when he signed another contract. By 1950, he was ranked the second-best center fielder by “Sporting News” after MLB player Larry Doby.
New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio, 37, puts his famous mitt over a mural of Yankee Stadium on Dec. 11, 1951, in the Yankees’ home office in New York, after announcing his retirement from baseball. After a poor season in 1951 and various injuries, speaking to “Sporting News,” DiMaggio said, “I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches and pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game, and so, I’ve played my last game.”
Recently retired from baseball, DiMaggio met actress and model Marilyn Monroe in 1952, and fell madly in love with her. DiMaggio reportedly asked an acquaintance to arrange a dinner date with the rising star and the duo instantly hit it off. The couple dated for 18 months in a highly publicized courtship before marrying.
Jan. 15, 1954: Marilyn Weds Joe In Frisco — On Jan. 14, 1954, the happy couple eloped at San Francisco City Hall in what the press called “the marriage of the century.” Outside the venue, the couple was mobbed by fans and press after news of the wedding leaked to reporters.
Newlyweds Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe arrive on Jan. 29, 1954, at the airport with plenty of baggage before their departure for Tokyo for an extension of their honeymoon. The new couple barely made it past their honeymoon before trouble started to surface in their short marriage. It was reportedly on the set of “The Seven Year Itch” when Monroe was filming the infamous white dress scene when DiMaggio became very angry and the couple had a massive fight on set. DiMaggio was said to have never been comfortable with his wife’s sex symbol image.
Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe arrive on June 2, 1955, at a theater. By October 1954, just 274 days after their wedding, Marilyn filed for divorce accusing DiMaggio of “mental cruelty.” The two reportedly stayed friends until her death in 1962 and DiMaggio left fresh roses on her grave several times a week until his death in 1999.
From left are Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Ralph Houk on March 9, 1961, in St. Petersburg, Fla. DiMaggio donned his uniform again to serve as an aide in spring training. In the wake of his divorce from Marilyn Monroe, DiMaggio reportedly started therapy in addition to quitting alcohol. During spring training in 1961, DiMaggio helped secure Monroe’s release from a psychiatric clinic and brought her to the Florida facility to rest and relax.
New York Yankee greats Mickey Mantle, left, and Joe DiMaggio, doff their caps to the crowd on July 22, 1972, at Yankee Stadium in New York, as they appear for an old-timers game between games of a doubleheader between the Yankees and the California Angels.
Joe DiMaggio is seen here in a Mr. Coffee commercial in 1974. During his baseball retirement, DiMaggio became a spokesman for Mr. Coffee and would appear as the face of the brand for more than a decade.
DiMaggio waves his cap to the crowd after being introduced during Old Timer’s Day on July 13, 1985, at Yankee Stadium in New York. DiMaggio remained a public figure throughout his retirement appearing at Yankee games as well as making radio and television appearances.
New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio stands by a bronze statue of himself that was unveiled at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame on May 18, 1991, in Arlington Heights, Ill. The event honored the Yankee Clipper’s 1941 56-game hitting streak that endures as one of the most remarkable records in baseball or any sport.
President George H. W. Bush shakes hands with baseball great Joe DiMaggio as fellow Hall of Famer Ted Williams looks on during a Rose Garden ceremony where the president presented them with Presidential Citations “for their contributions to baseball and sportsmanship” on July 9, 1991, in Washington, D.C.
Joe DiMaggio tosses out the first pitch on April 10, 1998, at Yankee Stadium in New York.
New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio acknowledges applause from fans on Sept. 27, 1998, at Yankee Stadium in New York. His original set of World Series rings was stolen from him so the Yankees gave him a complete set in a ceremony before the last game of the regular season with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. DiMaggio, 84, underwent surgery for lung cancer in October for the removal of a cancerous tumor in his lung and was in intensive care at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. for 99 days.
Pallbearers carry the casket of baseball great Joe DiMaggio out of the Saints Peter and Paul Church on March 11, 1999, in San Francisco. After leaving the hospital in January 1999, DiMaggio died on March 8, in his home in Hollywood, Fla., from lung cancer. He was 84.
A wreath of white roses adorns the Baseball Hall of Fame plaque of Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio on Monday, March 8, 1999, after his death was announced at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. At the bottom is a small sign saying “Joseph P. DiMaggio, November 25, 1914- March 8, 1999.”
Peter Mastrobuono, 86, a former New York resident, tips his cap at the Joe DiMaggio plaque outside Legends Field at the Yankees’ spring training camp on March 8, 1999, in Tampa, Fla., following DiMaggio’s death.
April 25, 1999: Joe D’s Final Days — How lawyer pal isolated the dying Yankee Clipper.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani holds up a “Joe DiMaggio Highway” sign during a press conference in the Blue Room at City Hall in 1999, in New York. A ceremony renaming the West Side Highway after the late great Yankee Clipper was held at the site on April 25, 1999, in New York. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. was named for him in his honor.
