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DiMaggio Brothers, Part One:

Teenaged Joe DiMaggio “Bored with Baseball”!

Yes, you read that correctly…

Recently, while shifting through Baseball Digest archives, I came across an interesting interview from the March 1946 issue in which Joe DiMaggio reflected on his early years in baseball. It’s not quite what you would think.

The interview, titled Game Bored DiMag at 14, was conducted at a time in which Joe was already regarded as a national icon. I took some quotes from the article I thought you might enjoy reading.

To start off, Joe makes this surprising admission:

“If it hadn’t been for my brother Vince, I never would have been a ballplayer at all. When I was a little guy, I played baseball and softball, but when I was 14, I quit. I just got tired of it. I was bored. I didn’t have any ambition to be a ballplayer.”

Whoa! Joe DiMaggio bored with baseball? When pressed as to just what exactly was his ambition, he explained further:

“I didn’t have any ambition. My father wanted me to be a fisherman and my mother wanted me to be a bookkeeper [!]. All I was interested in was having fun.”

Well, we can be thankful neither of his parents had the final word on Joe’s ultimate destiny.  Joe a bookkeeper? Perish the thought! And I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised by all this. I mean, who, after all, has a whole lot of ambition at that age? Joe sounds to me like a pretty normal 14-year old kid. But in case you’re

wondering just how Joe got his start in professional ball, he elaborated on the role played by his older brother, Vince. Here’s how it started:

Fast-forward a couple years. Vince was playing on the Class-D Tucson club. Meanwhile young Joe, back in San Francisco, now 16 and apparently over his “boredom,” had built a reputation as a pretty good ballplayer. He was asked to play third base on a neighborhood Boys’ Club League team:

 “When this kid—his name was Joe Bezzi—asked me to play, I said I would. I was a cocky kid, and I said to myself: ‘If Vince can get dough playing ball, I ought to do pretty good because I know I can play better than he can.’ I didn’t have any idea of getting any dough myself, understand. I didn’t think I would ever get into the minor leagues even, because the way I figured, who would come around looking for a punk kid like me? But I thought I would do all right in that league and have some fun.”

Joe’s team did better than expected, and soon a neighborhood grocer and olive oil dealer named Rossi took an interest in the team. He bought the boys better uniforms and equipment and put them into tougher competition.

“He was a great fan. He took pride in having a ball club of his own. We had been beating everyone in the Boys Club League and we went right on beating the teams in this new league.”

Joe’s stellar play kept getting him noticed, and he soon outgrew Rossi’s team. He was then asked to join a fast semi-professional team sponsored by a wholesale produce company, where he hit a remarkable .633 in 18 games. That brought another promotion, this time to the Mission Red A’s, the boys team of the Pacific Coast League Mission Reds.

Meanwhile, back to Vince…

After hitting .347 in Tucson, he was brought up by the San Francisco Seals. According to Joe’s telling, here’s what happened next:

“Augie Galan was playing shortstop for the Seals, and Henry Oana was one of the outfielders. Oana wanted to go home to Honolulu a couple of days before the end of the season and invited Augie to go with him. The club was in sixth place and wasn’t going anywhere, so the manager said it was all right to go. Then he said:

“’Who’s going to play shortstop for us Saturday and in Sunday’s doubleheader?’

“Vince said: ‘I’ve got a kid brother who can play shortstop. His name is Joe.’

“So the manager said: ‘Tell him to come over.’

“And so I did. They gave me a uniform and put me at shortstop…”

I think you can tell where this story is going. He made the most of this break – thanks to Vince – and stuck with the Seals. Still at shortstop the next season, he explained how he ended up in the outfield. Again, it was Vince playing a significant role:

“One day I was sent up as a pinch-hitter. I got a base on balls, and when the inning was over, I got my glove and started for the clubhouse, and the manager said:

“’You play right field.’

 “I thought he was kidding and started for the clubhouse again, but Vince who was sitting on the bench, ran after me and said:

“’He meant it. Go out to right field.’

“’I never played right field in my life,’ I said.

“And Vince said: I know you didn’t, but you’re going to start now.’ 

“So I did.”

The rest, as they say, is history. In a final ironic twist, Joe became the regular right fielder for the Seals, and Vince was sent to Hollywood (another club in the Pacific Coast League). Of course, one thing led to another and we know how the story ends. Joe went on to become one of the most celebrated players in the history of the game.

But there was also a happy ending for Vince. Who says no good deed goes unpunished? Vince was eventually rewarded for his role in facilitating his kid brother’s entry into professional ball. Even though overshadowed by his younger sibling, he enjoyed a solid if unspectacular 10-year career in the majors himself. And, in stark contrast to Joe, he had a marriage that lasted over 50 years to a loving wife, and had two loving daughters. So Vince didn’t do too bad for himself either.

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts and quotes edited from article in March 1946 edition of  Baseball Digest.