43. Dom DiMaggio: Brother Number Three

Well, when I initially posted the first DiMaggio brother's card, I said that I completed these quite some time ago and had promptly forgot about them. Said that for the life of me, I couldn't remember why I shelved them. Now I remember. For the past 7 months since I started this site, I have consistently received emails after each post I made, either people like it, dislike it, have suggestions, offer memories, all kinds of responses, but the point is, they were cards and players that elicited a response, the need to share a comment. Each and every message means a lot to me and I respect the people who take the time from their busy day to make a comment on my artwork. Since I started the DiMaggio series, nothing. Nada. Zip-o. Think I saw a tumbleweed blow by my studio window this morning. Now I know why I never posted these cards. Frankly, the DiMaggios are boring. Yeah, they were talented. Joe is in the Hall Of Fame and hit safely in 56 straight games, no one else is going to do that- but so what. Does Joe DiMaggio really give you that chill when you see him come to the plate in old footage? Nah. He just always looked distracted and bored. Vince, as mediocre a player as he was, has been more interesting to me than his more famous brothers. Well, anyway, with this last card I'm thankfully wrapping up this boring trilogy and after this I will promise to leave what ever old drawings I find in my files where I found them. Unseen.

So now ol' Giuseppe has 2 of his boys playing professional baseball. It ain't fishing, but heck, it's a living and it pays well. Now he starts to play the part of that most American of all fatherly types, the Dad that pushes you to play sports and lives his dreams through you. So the youngest DiMaggio, Dominic begins playing baseball. Despite being small, frail looking and wearing glasses, he ain't bad at all. In fact he's pretty darn good. Not as natural an athlete as Joe, Dom has to work harder, but it pays off as he makes the San Francisco Seals in 1937. A natural lead-off hitter he hits the ball at a .300 clip and gets on base consistently. Again, despite his diminutive size, Dom is a natural leader and after a spectacular 1939 season where he hit .360, the Boston Red Sox came knocking, purchasing his contract at the end of the year. By spring, 1940, all 3 DiMaggio boys were playing in the majors.

This concludes the DiMaggio trilogy. Next week I will get back to real stuff, forgotten minor leaguer's, negro league players that never got the chance to show what they got, guys trapped down in the low minors their entire career and hometown ballplayers who should've been someone, but just didn't. I'm talking about the real players that make up The Infinite Baseball Card Set.