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.

42. Joe DiMaggio: Brother Number Two

Going through my old drawings trying to find yet another thing I misplaced, I found the cards I did of the 3 DiMaggio Brothers depicting them on the San Francisco Seals. For the life of me I can't remember why I shelved them, but for some reason they never saw the light of day. I brought out Vince the other day, now it's his younger brother Joe's turn... maybe you've heard of him?

The eldest DiMaggio boy made the hometown San Francisco Seals team halfway through the '32 season and with three games left in the schedule, the team found itself short handed when a couple of the regulars jumped ship to barnstorm in Hawaii. Vince recommended his middle brother Joe to the manager as a fill-in shortstop. Just 17 at the time, he was already a neighborhood legend for the way he could hit the hell out of the ball. The younger DiMaggio batted just .222 in 9 at bats, but remember, he was still a teen and was playing in what could almost pass as a third major league. Anyway, it was good enough to merit a call back the next spring when the Seals went into their training camp.

The first thing the Seals did was move Joe to the outfield, he had a great arm but was wild. In the outfield they could make better use of his long legs and strong arm. Free from the pressure to perform in the infield, DiMaggio concentrated now at destroying the Pacific Coast League pitching. On May 28th he went 1 for 4 against the Portland Beavers, and continued to have a hit in every game for the next 61 games! The younger brother was becoming the star of San Francisco and along with the thousands of strangers who followed his career closely was his father Giuseppe, whose negative view of the game of baseball began to dissipate when he found out Joe was making more a month playing ball than he did as a fisherman. The old man welcomed the eldest brother Vince back into the family as well and Giuseppe remained a fan of the game until his dying day. On a side note, Vince, the reason Joe was even on the Seals to begin with, was released by the team after the start of the season. Fortunately he was quickly snatched up by the Hollywood club and his career remained on track, reaching the majors in 1937. But if you read the entry on Vince DiMaggio, you already knew that. Back to Joe...

So his first full season in organized ball not only shattered the league record for hitting safely in continuous games but he also hit and monstrous .340. Not bad for an 18 year-old! The country became transfixed by the young Italian from the coast as news of his great talent splashed across the sports pages. Italian-Americans, one of the biggest growing ethnic groups in the country, embraced Joe as a hero, much like Hank Greenberg did for the Jews in America at the same time, instilling pride that one of their own made good in America's Game. In the modern context it is hard for us to fully comprehend how important the sense of belonging was to recent immigrants and their children. Unlike today when too many people hyphenate their nationality and try to separate themselves from the fabric of the country, Joe DiMaggio gave Italians a star player of their own to rival any other player of what ever ethnic origin who came before him. Joe DiMaggio made them belong.

The next year Joe's career almost ended as quickly as it began. The official story was he was getting out of a cab while visiting his sister and twisted his knee in the gutter between the taxi and curb. Later stories came out he was injured while getting into his own car after a big night out at the Market Street nightclubs in San Francisco. Who knows what the real story was, the result was that he tore all the ligaments in his knee, a career-ending injury back in 1934. Surgery for such an injury didn't come about until decades later and all the doctors could do was put him in a cast and hope for the best. Because of his 61 game streak and great season the year before, Joe DiMaggio was already a known name in the baseball world, regarded as the next big thing. Now the scouts from the majors became nervous and kept their distance. All except one team. This particular ballclub, always the shrewd headhunter of talent, recognized that the best baseball prodigy in the land could now be had for a bargain price. The disappointed Seals agreed to sell their former star for a quarter of what they were asking before the accident. $25,000 and Joe DiMaggio became property of the New York Yankees.

Joe's knee healed up just fine and he played the last half of the 1934 season batting a promising .341. When the Yankees bought DiMaggio's contract they agreed to let him play the 1935 season with the Seals and he promptly hit a colossal .398 and smashed 34 home runs. Let there be no doubt, Joe DiMaggio was ready for the big time.

But waiting in the wings, urged on by his old man and the drive to be as good as his brothers was the youngest DiMaggio, Dominic...

41. Vince DiMaggio: Brother Number One

Going through my old drawings trying to find yet another thing I misplaced, I found the cards I did of the 3 DiMaggio Brothers depicting them on the San Francisco Seals. For the life of me I can't remember why I shelved them, but for some reason they never saw the light of day until now. Or at least Vince will today.

Everyone knows Joe DiMaggio. Stupid novelty songs were written about him, his 56 game hitting streak is legend and his dour mug hawked Mr. Coffee machines to a whole generation of coffee fiends in those simple, care-free days before the fancy coffee-drink revolution. And those urban folksters Simon and Garfunkel even mentioned him in a hit song for Christ's sake! And speaking of Christ, that brings me to Joe's older brother Vince. Why mention the Son of God and the DiMaggio boys in the same sentence? Well, I'm guessing that being the sibling of Joltin' Joe DiMaggio was a bit like being Jesus' brother. "Why can't you be more like your brother?" Must have been rough for the oldest, Vince, and the youngest, Dom. But each had a good career in baseball, however overshadowed by Joe. See, there I go talking about Joe when I really am focusing on Vince.

As a boy, Vince DiMaggio had two dreams in life: to become an opera singer or a professional baseball player. The opera career remained elusive, but young Vince excelled at baseball. Being the eldest boy of a strict, uneducated Italian immigrant, Vince had to leave home in order to pursue his diamond dreams, bringing down the wrath of his father who disowned the wayward son. Undaunted, Vince made the Tucson Lizards ballclub in 1932 and later that season after hitting .347 with 25 home runs he was brought up to his hometown San Francisco Seals, batting .270 for them. The Seals played in the Pacific Coast League. In the days before the Dodgers and Giants moved west, the Pacific Coast League was regarded as almost a third major league. In fact many players played their whole career on the coast despite having the talent to interest major league clubs. The pay, play and of course weather was sometimes better than the big leagues could offer.

Vince quickly became known as a speedy and talented outfielder and though he sometimes connected for power, struck out a lot. The next year Vince convinced his manager, Ike Caveney to take a look at his younger brother Joe, also an outfielder. This must have really burned up his old man, who had effectively shunned Vince. Now two of his boys were turning away from the life of a fisherman. Joe's natural talent suitably impressed the Seals and he was signed to a contract. In order to make room for their new outfielder Vince was traded to Hollywood and Joe went on to hit .340 for the Seals. Vince knocked around the high minors for a few years and finally got his chance in the big leagues with the Boston Braves in 1937. By this time his father, realizing that his boys playing that crazy game of baseball wasn't going to lead them down a path to ruin, repaired his relationship with Vince and became an avid follower of the game.

With Boston he was a mediocre batter but was 10th in the league in home runs and also led the league in strike outs. In 1938 after setting a record for strike outs that would stand for almost 30 years he was traded to the Yankees who sent him to their top farm team in Kansas City where he hit a league leading 46 home runs. Cincinnati picked him up at the end of the year though he was quickly traded to the Pirates where he spent the majority of his career.

Starring for Pittsburgh during the war years, Vince was one of the few sluggers who was able to pound the special deadened baseballs used during the war. Because rubber was essential to the war effort, a substance called "balata" was used and the usual high-grade cork and rubber mixture at the center of the ball was replaced by granulated cork. The result was a dead ball with no bounce. None-the-less, Vince finished in the top 10 home run leaders 6 times during his 10 major league seasons. It ain't no Joe DiMaggio numbers, but it ain't nothing to sniff at either.

Vince, despite being shunned by his father and over shadowed by his more talented younger brothers, was a laid-back and good-natured player and well liked throughout the National League. Besides a great personality he was blessed with a superb singing voice and often sang arias to amuse himself while playing the outfield. After his career ended in the majors, Vince played minor league ball for another 6 seasons and became the manager of the Pittsburg, California Diamonds. On July 14, 1949, "Vince DiMaggio Night" at City Park, both Vince and opposing manager Ray Perry of the Reading Browns played all 9 positions for their respective teams. Each player-manager made one error and Pittsburg won 11-2.

Unlike his brother Joe who became practically a recluse after his playing days ended, Vince DiMaggio remained an affable fellow and lived with his family in California until his death from stomach cancer in 1986 at age 74.