Joseph Paul Dimaggio: An American Hero
Throughout the nineteenth century, many great athletes were a part of the American pastime we call baseball. Although each athlete was unique and special, perhaps none could compare to Joe DiMaggio. Joe's talents on the field exceeded most of his peers, and his life off the field was unlike any player ever. Joe Dimaggio was an American hero whose life reached far beyond the baseball field where his greatness was first discovered. Joseph Paul DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California on November 25, 1914 ("Hall of Fame" 1). He was the poor, uneducated son of an Italian immigrant fisherman in the middle of the Great Depression. Joe's father wanted his sons to grow up educated and do well in life, so they could get away from the struggle and poverty they experienced as kids. Although Joe was very smart, it was on the baseball diamond that his true talents shone through. On the baseball field it did not matter who his parents were, how he dressed, or how much money he had. The only thing that mattered was if he could hit, run, catch, and throw, which Joe usually did better than anybody else. In 1931 Joe dropped out of high school. Since he had litt
The best example of Joe's life outside of baseball came in 1954. Al Smith, a veteran left-hander, pitched most of the game for Cleveland. While working, however, Joe decided that baseball was the only thing he liked to do and was the only thing he was good at. Simon and Garfunkel believed the absence of a hero was a big problem in America, a problem that was reason for concern. Walter Hriniak, a baseball h!istorian, considered DiMaggio, along with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Mickey Mantle, to have one of the greatest swings ever. Their romance would go down as one of the most magical in American history, a real life fairytale to the average American ("Icons" 2). So on that day in 1951 DiMaggio's career ended, leaving the public to remember him as an incredible baseball player, and a proud man ("Era" 1). He did not receive any money for his appearance, but impressed the Seals' management enough to be brought back for spring training in 1933. Interestingly, DiMaggio's streak was not his longest, as he hit in sixty-one consecutive games while playing for the Seals in 1933 (Einstein 97). During this time DiMaggio was considered the king of baseball, although he had retired several years before, and Marilyn Monroe was considered the queen of the movies. DiMaggio immediately took care of funeral arrangements ("Icons" 1). A crowd of 67,468 fans, a record at the time for the largest crowd to see a night game, gathered at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. Joe DiMaggio lived the last half of his life far from the public's eye. DiMaggio's brilliant playing career came to an end on December 12, 1951, when he announced to the world that he was retiring from baseball. It was even rumored that DiMaggio was going to ask Monroe to remarry him before she suddenly died in 1962.
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Acceptance Essays
