Vincent Paul DiMaggio (September 6, 1912 – October 3, 1986) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

. During a 10-year baseball career, he played for the

Boston Bees The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta, whe ...

(1937–1938),

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

(1939–1940),

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1940–1945),

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

(1945–1946), and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1946). DiMaggio was the older brother of Joe and

Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio wa ...

Early life

DiMaggio was born in

Martinez, California Martinez (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Martínez'') is a city in and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strai ...

, and grew up in

North Beach, San Francisco North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy" and has historically been home to a large Italian American popul ...

. Older than Joe and Dom, Vince was discovered first, and the teenage Joe used to enviously watch him play professional ball. Blessed with some power and good fielding, Vince once claimed that he could run rings around Joe in the outfield.

Career

Minor leagues (1932–1936)

DiMaggio began his professional career in 1932 with the Tucson Lizards of the Class-D Arizona–Texas League, hitting .347 with 25 homers and 81 RBI. He led the Arizona–Texas League in home runs, with eight more than runner-up Cal Lahman. He played 94

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

with the Lizards that year, finishing the season with the San Francisco Seals of the Class-AA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. With the Seals, he hit .270 with 6 home runs in 59 games. In 1933, DiMaggio hit .333 with 11 home runs and 65

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

for San Francisco and the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles–based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars ( ...

. He played with the Stars through 1935, joining the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

in 1936.

Major League Baseball

On December 4, 1936, DiMaggio was traded by San Diego of the PCL to the

for Tiny Chaplin,

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the Presidency of George W. Bush, cabinet of President of the United State ...

and cash. DiMaggio was a regular outfielder for the Bees in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. In 1937, he hit .256 with a .311

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .387

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

with 13 home runs. In 1938, DiMaggio hit only .228/.313/.369, but led the Bees with 14 home runs on a team that hit 54 home runs in total. He was tenth in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) in homers, sixth in steals (11) and eighth in walks (65). In both 1937 and 1938, he led the NL in

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. His 134 strikeouts in 1938 set a NL record for most strikeouts in one season, breaking Gus Williams' record of 120 set in 1914. On February 4, 1939, the Boston Bees sent DiMaggio to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

to complete an earlier deal made on August 10, 1938, where the Bees sent players to be named later, Gil English, Johnny Riddle and cash to the Yankees for Eddie Miller. DiMaggio did not play for the Yankees, as they assigned him to their American Association affiliate, the Kansas City Blues. On August 5, 1939, DiMaggio was traded by the Yankees to the

for players to be named later and $40,000. The Reds sent Frenchy Bordagaray and Nino Bongiovanni to the Yankees on January 27, 1940, to complete the trade. DiMaggio appeared in eight games with the 1939 Reds and only two games for the 1940 Reds before the Reds traded DiMaggio to the

for Johnny Rizzo on May 8, 1940. DiMaggio spent the majority of his MLB career with the Pirates. In between, he was selected to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

in 1943 and 1944. In the 1943 game, DiMaggio collected a home run, triple, single, a pair of runs and one RBI over three

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s. On March 31, 1945, he was traded by the Pirates to the

for Al Gerheauser. He then hit four grand slams for the Phillies. On May 1, 1946, he was traded by the Phillies to the

for Clyde Kluttz. In his ten-year MLB career, DiMaggio batted .249 with 125 home runs and 584 RBI in 1110 games.

Return to the minors

DiMaggio played for the Oakland Oaks of the PCL in 1947. In 1948, he moved to the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Banner I ...

of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

as a player-manager. He also played for and managed the Pittsburg Diamonds of the Class-D Far West League from 1949 through 1951. He finished the 1951 season, and his professional career, with the

Tacoma Tigers Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mou ...

of the Class-B

Western International League The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942, and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International League ...

Personal life

DiMaggio was married with two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He died in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, at age 74 of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

. DiMaggio worked at the California Shipbuilding Corporation during World War II. "He's one of the many former athletic stars who are helping to smash the Axis by building the equipment needed by America's fighting men," according to the Library of Congress. According to Joe DiMaggio biographer

Richard Ben Cramer Richard Ben Cramer (June 12, 1950 – January 7, 2013) was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for his coverage of the Middle East. Biography Cramer was born and r ...

, the iconic younger brother "didn't deal with Vince at all", never maintaining any meaningful relationship with him. But earlier in his career, DiMaggio had also joked that "If I could hit like Joe and he could talk like me, we'd make a helluva guy."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimaggio, Vince 1912 births 1986 deaths Baseball players from Martinez, California American people of Italian descent Boston Bees players Cincinnati Reds players Deaths from colorectal cancer in California Hollywood Stars players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball center fielders National League All-Stars New York Giants (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Diego Padres (minor league) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Stockton Ports players Tacoma Tigers players Tucson Lizards players Sportspeople of Italian descent Joe DiMaggio