Joe Dimaggio Bat

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By Steve Amoia for No Shortage of Work

Playing baseball was Joe DiMaggio’s first real job as an adult. He had worked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with his father, and sold newspapers as a boy. Neither job held much appeal to him.

Few first jobs in life could have the impact of this one. To be a first generation Italian-American teenager with a job at the ballpark. To watch the first American sports icon, Joe DiMaggio, in a way that few could imagine.

An American Cultural Icon

If you ever played baseball, the mystical Joe DiMaggio was as familiar as the crack of the bat, or the thud of the ball hitting the back of the catcher’s mitt. Just like cold beer, hot dogs, and the seventh inning stretch, Joe DiMaggio was an integral part of American baseball tradition and lore.

Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, on Nov. 25, 1920, and died March 08, 1999 in Hollywood, Florida. He was the eighth of nine children born to Giuseppe and Rosalia , who were immigrants from the Sicilian island of Isola della Femmina (Women’s Island). His father was a fisherman; however, young Joe did not like and worked various laborer jobs for the next few years.

From North Beach to the Bronx

He played semi-professional baseball for the San Francisco Seals , and after hitting in 61 consecutive games, his star rose in the direction of the New York Yankees . He was scouted and later signed by the Bronx Bombers. His career with New York spanned from 1936 to 1951, and included a three year break during World War II. Two of his brothers, Dominic and Vincent , also played professional baseball, respectively. Interestingly, all three played the position of center field.

In an era without television and mass communications, DiMaggio became an American cultural icon. Mostly due to radio broadcasts, magazines and newspapers. To Italian-Americans, and other new immigrants, he represented much more than the perfect swing, the graceful strides, his devotion to Marilyn Monroe , or “The Streak” (he hit safely in 56 straight games in 1941) that would make him immortal. Mr. DiMaggio exemplified that a first generation American could assimilate and become a reference point in the nation’s most popular game of baseball. This sport has the same popularity in the United States as soccer does in the rest of the world.

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