Joe DiMaggio Biography: Life and Career of Baseball's Yankee Clipper

Joseph Paul DiMaggio was born November 25th, 1914 and raised in San Francisco, California. His Italian immigrant parents envisioned fishing careers for their sons, but it wasn’t meant to be: three of their nine children, Joe, Vince and Dom, went on to play major league baseball.

San Francisco Seals

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After learning to play ball, DiMaggio left school during his mid-teens. He then began to play with the San Francisco Seals in the early 1930s after being recommended by his brother Vince, who was the team’s center fielder. With the Seals, Joe DiMaggio made Pacific Coast League history in 1933 when he obtained at least one hit for sixty-one games in a row.

DiMaggio’s blossoming baseball career was almost cut short after a knee injury the next year. Fortunately, he overcame the temporary setback and helped the Seals win the PCL title for the 1935 season.

New York Yankees

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DiMaggio started playing in the major leagues in 1936 after his contract was sold to the New York Yankees. Starting that year, the center fielder led his team to four consecutive World Series Championships. In fact, the Yankees won five more World Series titles before DiMaggio’s retirement in 1951. In addition to these successes, they won ten American League pennants with Joltin’ Joe.

Most Valuable Player

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During his early years with the team, DiMaggio scored the most runs and home runs in the league. In 1939, he batted an average of .381 and was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player, which was an honor he received twice more during his run with the team. That same year, he also married actress Dorothy Arnold.

One of DiMaggio’s standout skills was his consistency as a hitter. This was no more evident than in 1941 when he managed to realize a feat no other athlete has come close to duplicating: he set a Major League record for consecutive games with at least one base hit at fifty-six. This hitting streak began on May 15th, 1941 against the Chicago White Sox.

As DiMaggio’s success continued throughout the summer, America began to take notice. While playing the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 2nd, the player surpassed the previous hitting streak record of forty-four games, set in 1897. Fifteen days later, Cleveland Indians’ third basemen Ken Keltner ended DiMaggio’s streak, but did nothing to lessen DiMaggio’s fame.

Brief Break and Return to Baseball

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After briefly serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the 1940s, DiMaggio returned to baseball. He showed off his speed and range as a fielder in 1947 when he tied the existing record by playing one hundred and forty-one games with only a single error.

Two years later, the athlete made history once more after negotiating a contract that earned him a salary of one hundred thousand dollars. However, health problems and disappointing statistics made the 1951 season DiMaggio’s last as a professional baseball player. Among his many accomplishments, DiMaggio finished his career having stolen home five times. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.