Joe DiMaggio Thread

[Bill Burgess]

Joe DiMaggio was a truly great, historical player. High time for a tribute thread to The Yankee Clipper. Hope this attracts great stories/anacdotes on the great Joe D.

[Bill Burgess]

Relative Stats:

----Relative BA------Rel.Slg.-------Rel.onbase------Rel.ISO---------OPS+
----117.1 (41st)---142.9 (11th)-----112.7 (122nd)--195.5 (15th)---155 (tied 22nd)

Home/Away------BA----Slg.--onbs---HR-----D---T----RBI-------AB-----BB
Home:---------.315---.546---.391---148----186--73---720------3,360----398
Away:---------.333---.610--.405---213---203--58---817------3,461---392
-----------------------------------------
Hitting Stats Comparison Chart:

DiMaggio, Cobb, Wagner, Hornsby, Ruth, Gehrig, T. Williams, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Speaker, Lajoie, Musial, Collins, Crawford, J. Jackson, Wheat, Roush, Foxx, Clemente, Schmidt, Yaz, Anson, Bonds, B. Williams, Kiner, Killebrew, Rose, Gwynn, Kaline, Greenberg, Waner, R. Jackson, Boggs, Gehringer, Brouthers, Delahanty, Simmons, Mize, Brett, F. Robinson, Ashburn, Sisler, Snider, Banks, Molitor, Keeler, Bench, Terry, Henderson.

Joe DiMaggio---BA--Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA--SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league------2---0----0---1---2---1----2----3---0----2---0---0--1
2nd in league---0---1----1---0---0---2----3----2---0----5---0---0--4
3rd-------------2---1----0---4---1---0----3----1---2----0---0---0--2
4th-------------0---2----1---0---5---0----1----1---3----0---0---0--0
5th-------------0---0----0---0---2---2----1----2---0----0---0---0--1
6th-------------0---1----1---0---1---1----1----0---0----1---0---0--0

Cobb--------BA--Hits-2B---3B---HR---R--RBI-TB---OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league--12---8----3----4----1---5---4---6----7----8----6---0--11
2nd-league---3---3----4----4----2---2---2---2----7----3----1---1---3
3rd----------1---3----4----2----2---2---1---2----0----3----2---0---1 
4th----------2---0----0----1----0---1---0---1----0----1----3---1---1
5th----------1---0----0----1----0---2---1---0----1----0----0---1---0
6th----------2---0----2----0----0---0---0---0----0----0----0---0---0

Wagner-------BA--Hits-2B---3B---HR---R--RBI--TB--OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league----8---2----7----3----0---2---5----7---4----6----5---0--6
2nd league----2---2----1----3----1---2---2----1---1----3----0---0--2
3rd-----------0---5----3----2----0---2---2----4---2----2----2---0--2
4th-----------2---3----0----0----1---2---3----2---1----1----0---1--1
5th-----------1---1----1----0----2---1---1----2---2----0----0---0--0
6th-----------1---0----0----1----2---0---1----0---0----1----0---1--0

Hornsby-----BA---Hits-2B---3B--HR----R--RBI--TB---OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league---8----4----4----2---2----5---4----7----9----9----0---3--12
2nd league---2----1----1----1---2----1---1----2----1----1----0---1---1
3rd----------1----1----1----1---3----0---2----0----1----1----0---0---0
4th----------1----3----4----0---1----2---0----0----0----1----0---2---0
5th----------0----0----0----0---5----0---0----0----0----1----0---0---0
6th----------0----0----0----1---1----0---1----1----1----0----0---2---1

Ruth---------BA---Hits-2B---3B---HR---R--RBI--TB---OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league----1----0----1----0---12---8---6----6----9---13----0--11--13
2nd league----2----0----1----0----2---1---2--- 3----2----1----0---1---1
3rd-----------2----0----1----0----1---0---0----2----1----1----0---1---2
4th-----------1----3----0----0----0---0---3----0----2----0----0---0---0
5th-----------1----0----0----0----0---1---0----0----0----0----0---0---0
6th-----------0----2----1----1----0---1---1----0----0----0----0---0---0

Gehrig------BA---Hits-2B---3B---HR--Runs--RBI--TB---OBA-SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
Led league---1----1----1----4----2----4----4----2----4----2---0---3--3
2nd league---2----3----0----0----4----2----4----3----2----4---0---2--6
3rd----------3----0----0----1----3----3----2----2----3----1---0---3--3
4th----------0----1----0----0----1----2----2----0----0----3---0---0--0
5th----------2----1----0----0----1----0----0----1----1----0---0---0--0
6th----------1----0----1----0----1----0----0----1----0----0---0---1--0			
							
Ted Williams--BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA--SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league-----6----0----2---0---4---6----4----6---12---8---0---8--9
2nd in league--2----1----2---0---4---1----2----0----0---1---0---1--1
3rd------------1----2----0---0---2---1----1----4----0---1---0---2--3
4th------------1----1----2---0---0---1----1----0----0---2---0---0--0
5th------------0----4----0---0---0---0----1----0----0---0---0---1--0
6th------------0----0----0---0---3---0----0----0----1---0---0---1--0
												
Mickey Mantle--BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR---Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league------1----1----0---1---4----6----1----3---3---4---0---5--8
2nd in league---1----0----1---0---3----2----3----4---5---0---0---3--3
3rd-------------1----0----0---0---2----1----1----2---1---2---0---2--1
4th-------------2----2----0---1---0----0----0----1---2---0---2---0--0	
5th-------------0----0----0---0---1----0----2----0---0---0---0---0--0
6th-------------0----0----0---1---0----1----3----0---1---1---0---1--0				

Willie Mays----BA---Hits-2B--3B---HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league------1----1----0---3----4---2----0----3---2---5---4---1--6
2nd in league---3----1----1---1----1---5----2----5---1---3---0---1--1
3rd-------------2----1----1---1----3---3----3----5---2---2---0---2--5
4th-------------0----0----0---0----1---0----2----1---1---2---1---1--2
5th-------------1----1----0---0----2---0----1----1---5---4---0---1--0
6th-------------1----2----2---0----2---2----2----0---1---0---0---3--1	

Hank Aaron----BA--Hits-2B--3B--HR---Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league-----2---2----4---0---4----3----4---8---0---4---0---0--3
2nd in league--0---3----2---2---4----1----0---2---2---5---1---1--4
3rd------------0---1----1---0---1----4----2---2---3---4---0---2--4
4th------------3---0----1---2---2----2----2---2---1---1---2---2--1
5th------------4---0----0---0---2----1----1---0---2---1---0---0--1
6th------------0---3----1---0---2----1----1---1---1---2---2---0--2	

Tris Speaker--BA--Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league-----1---2----8---0---1---0----0----1---4---1---0---0--1
2nd in league--2---1----3---1---2---4----1----3---3---2---0---1--4
3rd------------7---2----1---1---0---2----1----2---4---4---1---0--5	
4th------------2---4----0---0---2---2----2----3---3---4---1---4--3
5th------------1---2----0---0---0---0----0----1---1---2---3---2--3
6th------------1---0----1---1---0---2----0----0---0---1---1---3--0

Nap Lajoie---BA--Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs--RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led league----3---4----5---0---1----1----3---4---2---4---0---0--3
2nd in league-3---0----4---1---0----1----1---2---2---3---0---0--3
3rd-----------1---1----1---0---1----0----2---0---1---2---0---0--0
4th-----------1---1----1---0---0----1----1---2---1---0---0---0--1
5th-----------0---1----0---0---0----0----1---0---1---0---0---0--0
6th-----------3---1----0---0---2----0----1---0---0---2---1---0--4

Stan Musial-BA--Hits-2B---3B--HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
Led league---7---6----8----5---0---5----2----6---6---6----0---1--6
2nd league---2---3----3----1---1---4----0----2---7---3----0---0--4
3rd----------5---2----1----1---1---4----3----1---0---0----0---2--0
4th----------2---1----0----2---1---1----2----2---2---3----0---2--3
5th----------1---0----0----1---1---1----2----2---0---1----0---2--0
6th----------0---0----2----0---1---0----0----1---1---0----0---0--1

Ed Collins--BA--Hits-2B--3B---HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
Led League---0---0----0---0----0---3----0---0----0---0---4---1--0
2nd league---3---2----0---1----0---1----0---0----3---0---4---5--1
3rd----------0---1----0---0----0---2----1---1----7---1---2---2--2
4th----------5---1----1---0----0---2----0---0----2---0---2---2--2
5th----------2---3----0---1----0---0----1---3----2---1---1---1--3
6th----------1---1----0---2----0---1----0---1----1---2---1---1--0

Crawford----BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR---Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0----0----1---6---2----1----3----2---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league---4----5----4---3---2----1----4----6---0---4---0---0--2
3rd----------1----4----0---3---2----0----2----2---0---3---0---0--4
4th----------2----0----1---0---1----1----2----1---2---1---0---0--3
5th----------0----2----0---0---3----2----1----2---2---2---0---0--0
6th----------1----0----2---3---1----0----2----1---1---0---1---0--1

J.Jackson---BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0----2----1---3---0---0----0---2---1----1----0---0--0
2nd league---3----2----2---1---0---1----0---2---2----3----0---0--3
3rd league---2----2----2---2---1---2----1---1---0----1----0---1--2
4th----------2----2----0---1---0---1----4---1---3----2----0---0--1
5th----------0----0----0---0---1---0----0---0---1----2----0---0--3
6th----------0----0----0---0---0---1----0---0---0----0----1---0--0

Z. Wheat----BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB---OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league---1----0----2---0---0---0----0---0----0----1----0---0--0
2nd league---1----3----2---0---0---0----0---0----0----0----0---0--1
3rd league---2----2----1---0---0---1----2---0----0----1----0---0--1
4th----------2----0----0---0---1---0----0---0----2----2----0---0--1
5th----------1----1----0---2---2---0----1---0----1----1----0---0--2
6th----------0----0----0---1---2---1----2---0----0----0----0---0--1

Edd Roush--BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league--2----0----1---1---1---0----0---1---0----1----0---0--1
2nd league--2----0----1---2---0---0----1---0---0----0----1---0--1
3rd league--1----3----0---3---0---0----1---0---1----1----0---0--2
4th---------1----1----0---1---1---0----0---1---1----1----1---0--1
5th---------1----1----0---0---0---2----0---1---1----0----0---0--0
6th---------0----1----0---0---0---0----1---2---1----1----1---0--1

J. Foxx-----BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG--SB--BB--OPS+
led league---2-----0---0---0---4---1----3---3---3---5----0---2--5
2nd league---2-----1---0---0---3---2----0---1---3---1----0---1--2
3rd league---1-----2---0---0---2---1----3---0---3---2----0---3--0
4th----------0-----0---0---0---3---2----2---3---0---1----0---4--3
5th----------1-----0---0---0---0---1----0---1---2---2----0---0--1
6th----------0-----0---0---0---0---1----2---1---0---1----0---0--0

Clemente----BA---Hits-2B--3B---HR--Runs-RBI--TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---4----2----0---1----0---0----0----0---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league---2----1----1---1----0---0----2----1---1---0---0---0--1
3rd league---1----1----0---2----0---0----0----1---0---1---0---0--1
4th----------2----1----0---1----0---2----0----0---1---0---0---0--0
5th----------1----1----1---4----0---0----0----1---0---1---0---0--0
6th----------0----1----2---1----0---0----0----0---3---1---0---0--1

Schmidt-----BA---Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0----0----0---0---8---1----4---3---3---5----0---4--6
2nd league---0----0----0---0---1---2----1---1---0---2----0---2--1
3rd league---0----0----0---0---2---6----4---0---0---2----0---3--2
4th----------1----0----0---0---1---0----0---1---3---3----0---3--1
5th----------0----0----0---0---0---0----0---4---1---0----0---0--1
6th----------0----0----0---0---1---1----0---0---0---0----0---1--0

Yaz----------BA---Hits-2B-3B--HR---Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league----3----2---3---0---1----3----1---2---5---3----0---2--4
2nd league----2----0---1---0---0----1----0---0---1---0----0---3--1
3rd league----0----0---2---1---1----1----1---0---1---0----0---1--0
4th-----------0----2---0---0---1----1----0---2---0---1----0---1--0
5th-----------0----1---0---0---0----1----1---0---0---0----0---2--0
6th-----------0----1---1---0---0----0----0---2---0---0----0---0--1

Anson-------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR---Runs--RBI-TB--OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league--2----1----3--0---0-----0----8---1---4----0----0---1---1
2nd league--5----4----2--1---0-----0----3---2---5----4----0---1---2
3rd league--2----2----2--0---4-----0----3---2---1----1----0---1---1
4th---------1----0----2--0---1-----2----0---2---1----3----0---2---3
5th---------2----3----0--1---1-----2----0---0---2----1----0---0---3
6th---------0----0----1--0---0-----4----0---3---3----0----0---2---1

Bonds------BA---Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA--SLG--SB--BB-OPS+
led league--2----0----0--0---2---1----1---1---8----7----0--10---9
2nd league--0----0----0--0---5---3----1---0---3----1----0---4---3
3rd league--1----0----0--0---1---6----0---1---0----1----1---1---2
4th---------1----0----0--0---4---0----4---0---2----3----1---0---0
5th---------0----0----0--0---0---1----0---3---1----1----2---0---1
6th---------0----0----0--2---0---3----2---1---0----1----2---0---0

B. Williams--BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----1---1----0--0---0---1----0---3---0---1---0---0--1
2nd league----0---0----1--1---2---0----3---1---1---0---0---0--0
3rd league----0---3----3--1---3---0----0---1---0---2---0---0--1
4th-----------2---0----1--0---1---1----0---1---0---1---0---0--0
5th-----------0---1----0--1---0---2----0---1---0---0---0---0--0
6th-----------0---1----0--0---1---0----0---0---0---1---0---1--0

Kiner-------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0---0----0--0---7---1----1---1---1---3---0---3--0
2nd league---0---0----0--0---0---0----3---2---0---0---0---3--0
3rd league---0---0----0--0---0---1----1---0---2---1---0---0--0
4th league---1---0----0--0---0---1----0---2---0---2---0---1--2
5th----------1---0----0--0---1---1----1---0---0---0---0---0--0
6th----------0---1----0--0---0---0----1---0---2---0---0---1--0

Killebrew---BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR---Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---0---0----0--0---6----0----3---0---1---1---0---4---0
2nd league---0---0----0--0---2----1----2---2---1---3---0---1---1
3rd league---0---0----0--0---2----1----2---4---2---4---0---3---2
4th----------0---0----0--0---0----1----1---0---5---0---0---1---5
5th----------1---0----0--0---2----0----0---2---2---2---0---1---2
6th----------0---0----0--0---0----1----1---1---0---0---0---0---0

Rose--------BA-Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---3---7---5--0---0---4----0---0---1---0---0---0---0
2nd league---2---5---2--2---0---3----0---1---1---0---0---0---0
3rd league---0---1---4--0---0---3----0---1---3---0---0---0---0
4th----------1---1---0--0---0---1----0---1---1---0---0---2---0
5th----------1---2---2--2---0---1----0---1---1---0---0---2---0
6th----------0---0---0--1---0---0----0---1---0---0---0---1---1

Gwynn------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR---Runs-RBI-TB---OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league--8---7----0--0---0----1----0---0----1---0---0---0--0
2nd league--1---0----1--3---0----0----0---0----2---0---1---0--0
3rd league--2---1----1--0---0----0----0---1----0---0---0---0--1
4th---------1---0----1--0---0----1----0---0----1---0---0---0--1
5th---------1---0----0--1---0----0----0---0----2---0---0---0--0
6th---------0---0----0--0---0----0----1---0----0---0---1---0--1

Kaline-----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs--RBI-TB---OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league--1----1---1--0---0----0----0---1----0---1---0---0---1
2nd league--3----1---1--0---0----1----2---1----3---1---0---0---2
3rd league--2----1---1--0---0----0----0---0----2---1---0---0---1
4th---------1----1---0--1---0----0----0---2----0---1---1---0---1
5th---------0----0---2--1---0----1----1---0----2---1---0---1---0
6th---------0----1---1--1---0----1----1---1----0---1---1---1---0

Greenberg---BA---Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0----0----2--0---4----1---4---2---0---1---0---2--0
2nd league---0----0----2--0---2----1---1---3---2---4---0---1--4
3rd league---0----0----1--1---0----1---1---1---2---2---0---0--1
4th----------0----1----0--0---0----1---1---0---0---0---0---0--2
5th----------1----1----0--1---0----0---0---1---0---0---0---0--0
6th----------1----1----0--0---0----0---0---0---0---0---0---3--0

Waner-------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---3---2----2--2---0---2----1---1---0---0---0---0---0
2nd league---1---3----1--5---0---2----0---0---2---0---1---2---0
3rd league---0---1----1--0---0---0----0---1---2---1---0---1---1
4th----------3---1----2--1---0---1----0---2---1---2---0---1---4
5th----------1---0----0--0---0---0----0---3---1---2---0---0---0
6th----------0---2----1--0---0---1----0---1---2---0---0---0---1

R.Jackson----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league----0---0----0--0---4----2---1---0---0---3---0---0---4
2nd league----0---0----3--0---3----0---0---3---0---2---0---1---1
3rd league----0---0----0--0---1----1---1---0---0---1---0---0---0
4th-----------0---0----0--0---1----0---1---1---1---0---0---1---1
5th-----------0---0----1--0---2----2---0---0---1---2---0---1---1
6th-----------0---0----0--0---0----0---3---0---2---1---0---0---1

Boggs--------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---5----1----2--0---0---2----0---0---6---0---0---1--1
2nd league---1----5----3--0---0---0----0---0---1---0---0---0--2
3rd league---2----0----2--0---0---1----0---0---1---1---0---3--0
4th----------1----2----1--0---0---0----0---1---1---0---0---0--2
5th----------2----0----0--0---0---1----0---1---0---0---0---2--0
6th----------0----0----0--0---0---1----0---0---1---0---0---0--1

Gehringer---BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR---Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---1---2----2--1---0----2----0---0---0---0---1---0--0
2nd league---1---2----2--1---0----1----0---0---2---0---1---0--0
3rd league---0---0----1--1---0----3----0---0---0---0---0---1--0
4th----------1---0----2--0---0----1----0---2---1---0---0---1--0
5th----------2---3----0--1---0----2----1---0---1---0---0---2--0
6th----------0---0----0--0---0----0----0---4---1---0---0---1--1

Brouthers----BA--Hits-2B--3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----5---3----3---1---2----2---2---4---5---7---0---0--8
2nd league----1---2----2---4---1----0---2---2---5---3---0---0--1
3rd league----2---1----1---2---2----1---1---1---0---0---0---0--2
4th-----------1---1----2---1---0----0---1---1---1---0---0---2--0
5th-----------1---2----0---1---2----1---1---0---1---0---0---0--0
6th-----------0---0----1---0---0----0---1---3---0---0---0---0--0

Delahanty----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----1---1----5--1---2---0----3---2---2---5---1---0--4
2nd league----3---1----3--0---0---0----2---2---1---2---0---0--3
3rd league----2---1----2--2---1---1----1---2---2---1---0---0--1
4th-----------2---2----1--0---2---1----0---1---0---1---0---2--1
5th-----------0---1----0--0---1---2----1---0---2---1---0---0--1
6th-----------2---0----0--2---0---0----0---0---0---0---0---2--1

Mize---------BA-Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league----1---0---1--1---4---1----3---3---0---4---0---0---2
2nd league----2---0---1--0---2---1----1---4---2---3---0---0---5
3rd league----0---3---1--2---1---2----3---0---1---2---0---2---2
4th-----------0---0---0--0---1---0----0---0---1---0---0---0---0
5th-----------3---1---0--1---1---1----1---0---2---0---0---1---0
6th-----------0---2---0--0---0---1----0---0---0---0---0---1---0

Brett-------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---3---3----2--3---0----0---0---1---3---3---0---0---3
2nd league---2---0----2--1---0----1---1---2---1---0---0---0---0
3rd league---0---0----2--0---0----1---0---0---1---0---0---1---0
4th----------0---0----1--1---0----1---0---1---1---1---0---0---0
5th----------0---1----1--1---0----1---1---1---0---1---0---0---2
6th----------2---0----0--2---0----0---1---0---1---2---0---0---0

F.Robinson---BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----1---0----1--0---1----3---1---1---2---4---0---0--4
2nd league----2---2----0--0---2----2---4---1---6---1---0---1--1
3rd league----1---1----3--1---3----0---2---1---0---0---1---1--1
4th-----------1---0----1--0---3----1---0---3---3---5---1---2--1
5th-----------1---0----0--0---2----2---1---0---0---1---0---1--7
6th-----------2---1----2--0---1----1---0---1---0---1---1---0--1

Ashburn-----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---2---3----0--2---0---0----0---0---4---0---1---4---0
2nd league---2---1----0--0---0---0----0---0---0---0---2---2---0
3rd league---0---0----0--0---0---0----0---0---1---0---0---1---0
4th----------0---0----1--1---0---1----0---0---1---0---1---0---0
5th----------0---1----1--3---0---2----0---0---1---0---2---1---1
6th----------2---3----0--0---0---2----0---0---0---0---2---1---0

Sisler-------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----2---2----0--2---0---1----0---2---0---0---4---0--0
2nd league----1---1----1--2---2---2----1---1---1---2---2---0--1
3rd league----2---3----1--1---0---0----0---1---1---0---0---0--2
4th-----------2---3----1--0---0---1----1---1---0---2---0---0--1
5th-----------0---0----0--0---0---0----0---3---1---2---1---0--1
6th-----------0---0----0--0---0---0----2---0---1---0---1---0--1

Snider------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB--OPS+
led league---0----1---0--0---1----3---1---3---1---2---0---1---1
2nd league---0----1---2--0---1----1---1---1---1---2---0---0---1
3rd league---2----1---2--2---1----0---1---0---2---0---0---1---2
4th----------1----0---0--0---1----1---1---0---0---1---0---1---0
5th----------1----0---0--0---0----0---0---3---0---1---1---1---0
6th----------0----0---0--0---1----1---1---0---0---1---1---1---1

Simmons-----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---2---2----0--0---0----1---1---2---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league---2---0----2--0---1----2---2---2---0---3---0---0--0
3rd league---1---3----0--0---2----0---2---1---0---3---0---0--2
4th----------3---3----0--0---1----0---1---1---0---0---0---0--1
5th----------0---0----0--0---3----0---2---1---0---2---0---0--1
6th----------0---0----0--1---1----0---1---0---1---0---0---0--1

Banks--------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----0---0----0--0---2---0----2---1---0---1---0---0--0
2nd league----0---0----0--1---2---2----0---1---0---1---0---0--1
3rd league----0---0----0--0---2---0----2---3---0---0---0---0--0
4th-----------0---1----1--0---1---0----1---0---0---1---0---0--1
5th-----------0---0----1--1---0---0----1---0---0---2---0---0--2
6th-----------1---0----0--0---1---0----1---1---0---0---0---0--0

Bench------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league--0---0----0--0---2---0----3---1---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league--0---0----1--0---1---1----1---1---0---0---0---0--1
3rd league--0---0----2--0---0---0----1---1---0---2---0---1--0
4th---------0---0----0--0---1---0----0---0---0---2---0---0--0
5th---------0---0----0--0---0---0----0---0---0---1---0---0--0
6th---------0---0----1--0---0---0----0---0---0---0---0---0--0

Molitor-----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league---0---3----1--1---0---3----0---0---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league---2---1----0--1---0---1----0---0---1---0---0---0--0
3rd league---1---2----0--0---0---0----0---0---0---0---1---0--1
4th----------1---2----0--0---0---1----0---1---0---0---2---0--0
5th----------2---1----0--0---0---0----0---0---0---1---0---0--0
6th----------3---0----0--0---0---0----0---0---0---0---2---0--1

Terry--------BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league----1---1----0--1---0---1----0---0---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league----3---3----0--0---0---1----0---2---0---0---0---0--0
3rd league----0---1----1--1---1---0----1---0---0---1---0---0--0
4th-----------2---1----0--2---1---0----0---2---1---0---0---0--2
5th-----------0---0----1--1---0---0----2---0---2---1---0---0--1
6th-----------1---0----0--0---0---2----1---0---0---0---0---0--0

Keeler-----BA---Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG-SB--BB-OPS+
led league--2----3----0--0---0----1---0---0---0---0---0---0--0
2nd league--2----5----0--0---0----5---0---1---1---1---0---0--1
3rd league--1----1----0--0---0----1---0---1---2---0---0---0--0
4th---------3----2----0--1---0----1---0---1---0---0---1---0--1
5th---------1----1----0--0---0----1---0---1---0---0---1---0--0
6th---------1----0----0--1---0----1---0---2---1---0---0---0--0

Henderson----BA--Hits-2B-3B--HR--Runs-RBI-TB--OBA-SLG--SB-BB--OPS+
led league----0---1----0--0---0----5---0---0---1---0---12--4---1
2nd league----1---0----0--1---0----1---0---0---2---1----0--2---1
3rd league----0---0----0--0---0----1---0---0---6---0----0--1---0
4th-----------2---0----0--0---0----3---0---0---1---0----2--5---0
5th-----------0---0----0--0---0----1---0---0---2---0----1--0---0
6th-----------0---0----0--0---1----0---0---1---1---0----2--1---0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
leecemark; December 3, 2004, 06:58 AM
Cobb Wins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Congratulations to Tyrus Raymond Cobb and his supporters for his victory over an extremely competitive field. I'd like to thank everyone who particiapated in the discussions on this thread. This has been easily the best of the series so far. Whether we're getting better as we go along or this was a result of the deep field of truely great players, we had some excellent debates on the merits of several players and some good side issues as well.
1) Ty Cobb 259
2) Willie Mays 253
3) Mickey Mantle 209
4) Tris Speaker 196
5) Joe DiMaggio 182
6) Oscar Charleston 108
7) Ken Griffey Jr 91
8) Duke Snider 70
9) Cool Papa Bell 36
10) Billy Hamilton 26
-------------------------
11) Richie Ashburn 25
12) Lary Doby 23
13) Kirby Puckett 20
--Nobody else reached double figures
-----------------------------------------------------------------
538280; December 17, 2005, 08:44 AM
Poll Results
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had 24 ballots submitted, and it was a very close race for #1. In the end, Ty Cobb claimed his spot as the BBF #1 CFer by a slight margin over Willie Mays. Here's everyone who received 10 or more votes (first place votes in parenthesis):

1. Ty Cobb-253 (14)
2. Willie Mays-242 (10)
3. Tris Speaker-175
4. Mickey Mantle-169
5. Joe DiMaggio-147
6. Oscar Charleston-114
7. Ken Griffey Jr.-82
8. Duke Snider-55
9. Billy Hamilton-45
10. Cool Papa Bell-33
11. Richie Ashburn-15
12.Christobal Torriente-14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Burgess; May 27, 2007, 10:59 PM

1.) Ty Cobb - 266 points (15 first place votes)
2.) Willie Mays - 244 points (12 first place votes)
3.) Mickey Mantle - 213 points (0 first place votes)
4.) Tris Speaker - 197 points (1 first place vote)
5.) Joe DiMaggio - 166 points (1 first place vote)
6.) Oscar Charleston - 119 points
7.) Ken Griffey Jr. - 109 points
8.) Duke Snider - 70 points
9.) Billy Hamilton - 50 points
10.) Cool Papa Bell - 28 points
--------------------------------------------------------------
11.) Kirby Puckett - 11 points
12.) Spot Poles - 8 points
13.) Martin Dihigo - 7 points
14.) Jimmy Wynn - 7 points
15.) Christobal Torriente - 5 points
16.) Richie Ashburn - 5 points
17.) Lary Doby - 5 points
18.) Jim Edmonds - 4 points
19.) Fred Lynn - 4 points
20.) Hugh Duffy - 3 points
21.) Paul Hines - 2 points
22.) Turkey Stearns - 2 points
23.) Cesar Cedeno - 1 point
24.) Dale Murphy - 1 point
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greatest Hitter series, conducted by Bill Burgess, ending November 4, 2007, 08:05 AM

1. Babe Ruth---------68 votes - 95.77%
1. Ted Williams-------68 - 95.77%
3. Ty Cobb-----------52 - 73.24%
4. Rogers Hornsby----36 - 50.70%
5. Lou Gehrig---------32 - 45.07%
6. Barry Bonds
7. Mickey Mantle
8. Stan Musial
9. Hank Aaron
10. Willie Mays
11. Jimmy Foxx
12. Honus Wagner
13. Frank Thomas
14. Tris Speaker
15. Frank Robinson
16. Joe DiMaggio
17. Joe Jackson
18. Josh Gibson
19. Nap Lajoie
20. Mel Ott
21. Oscar Charleston
22. Alexander Rodriguez
23. Dan Brouthers
24. Mike Schmidt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe DiMaggio, Yankees' CF, June 26, 1941, consecutive game #38, Yankee Stadium, against the Browns--- BB Reference


Hitting safely in game #56, July 17, 1941


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1949, Yankee Stadium, Birdie Tebbetts, Red Sox C.


------Joe DiMaggio, Yankees' CF,---------------------------------------------------------One Fluid Swing, 1936-43
------Breaking George Sisler's record, June 30, 1941, ----------------------------------- BB Reference
------Griffith Stadium, during The Streak.


Rounding 1B full speed during The Streak. ------------------------------------------------------------1936-42


Source: Detroit News newspaper photo collection.

----Source: Detroit News newspaper photo collection.


August, 1940: Joe DiMaggio accepts his 1939 MVP Award from New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and
sports writer, John Drebinger (Dreb is next to Joe). Bill Dickey is in the background wearing his catcher's shin guards.


-----------------------------1947[/B]

[Bill Burgess]

Some of the Greatest Hitting Seasons Ever: Listed according to OPS+.
Seasons pre-1920 are high-lighted in red, for convenience.

----------------Rel.SLG-Rel.OBP--Rel.BA.-OPS+-INK--PCA-----WS--TPR
Bonds, 2002------1.94----1.74-----1.42---275---09--20.6----49--11.2
Bonds, 2001------2.03 ---1.54-----1.34---262---09--20.82---54--12.2
Bonds, 2004------1.91----1.82-----1.37---260---09--21.8----53--12.5
Ruth, 1920-------2.18----1.52-----1.32---256---16--28.83---51--10.0
Ruth,1921--------2.07----1.43-----1.29---239---16--24.79---53---9.8
Ruth, 1923-------1.96----1.55-----1.39---239---16--22.2----55--11.2
Williams, 1941---1.88----1.61-----1.52---235---16--22.1----42---8.8
Gehrig,1927------1.91----1.34-----1.30---221---07--17.17---44---9.1
Ruth, 1924-------1.86----1.43-----1.30---220---16--20.8----45---8.5
Mantle,1956------1.78----1.36-----1.35---210---18--22.96---49---8.8
Cobb, 1917-------1.78----1.39-----1.54---209---16--19.7----46---8.4
Hornsby,1922-----1.78----1.31-----1.37---207---23--20.37---42---9.2
Foxx,1932--------1.85----1.35-----1.31---205---14--18.54---40---7.2
Wagner,1908------1.77----1.38-----1.48---205---19--18.42---59--10.2
Brett, 1980------1.66----1.38-----1.44---202---07--12.43---36---7.4
Cash, 1961-------1.67----1.47-----1.41---201---07--17.30---42---8.3
Musial,1948------1.83----1.35-----1.44---200---20--20.30---46---7.3
Lajoie, 1901-----1.73----1.39-----1.53---200---23--18.94---42---7.4
F.Robinson, 1966-1.72----1.34-----1.31---199---18--16.48---41---6.8
Cobb,1911--------1.73----1.38-----1.53---196---22--20.74---47---6.4
Yaz,1967---------1.77----1.38-----1.38---195---21--16.81---42---6.5
J.Jackson, 1911--1.64----1.38-----1.49---193---00--17.13---39---6.8
T.Williams,1949--1.71----1.38-----1.30---192---19--17.24---40---6.6
Vaughan, 1935----1.55----1.48-----1.38---190---09--15.72---39---7.6
Delahanty, 1899--1.59----1.35-----1.45---189---16--16.36---41---5.4
Speaker, 1912----1.62----1.39-----1.44---188---06--18.13---51---7.1
Morgan, 1976-----1.59----1.40-----1.25---187---03----?-----37---7.5
Kiner, 1951------1.60----1.36-----1.18---184---12--15.64---35---5.1
Aaron, 1959------1.59----1.24-----1.36---181---10--15.21---38---7.2
Sisler,1920------1.63----1.29-----1.43---181---08--15.40---33---7.6
Burkett, 1901----1.46----1.37-----1.40---181---11--15.21---38---5.8
Al Rosen, 1953---1.60----1.25-----1.28---180---14--15.33---42---6.5
Medwick, 1937----1.67----1.24-----1.37---180---24--17.47---40---5.2
Carew, 1977------1.40----1.35-----1.45---178---10--15.74---37---6.3
Hack Wilson,1930-1.61----1.27-----1.17---178---13--15.81---35---4.9
H.Duffy, 1894----1.59----1.42-----1.58---177---20--16.44---33---4.0
Simmons,1930-----1.68----1.20-----1.32---176---07--12.94---36---4.5
Wagner, 1900-----1.56----1.28-----1.36---175---10--16.05---34---4.3
Mays, 1954-------1.63----1.22-----1.30---175---08--12.11---40---6.8
Mize, 1937-------1.55----1.28-----1.33---172---00--14.95---34---3.3
Greenberg, 1937--1.60----1.29-----1.19---172---04--12.38---33---5.5
Babe Herman,1930-1.51----1.26-----1.29---170---00--16.26---32---3.5
Sisler, 1922-----1.49----1.34-----1.47---170---13--14.08---29---5.2
Clemente, 1967---1.52----1.28-----1.43---170---07--12.59---35---5.6
Snider, 1954-----1.58----1.26-----1.28---170---03--12.33---39---4.2
Zimmerman, 1912--1.54----1.22-----1.36---169---16--13.16---34---5.0
Morgan, 1975-----1.37----1.43-----1.27---169---02----?-----44---9.8
DiMaggio,1937----1.62----1.16-----1.23---168---07--12.78---39---5.9
Heilmann, 1921---1.48----1.24-----1.34---167---07--12.13---28---3.4
Reiser, 1941-----1.54----1.24-----1.32---165---13--10.22---34---4.7
Ott, 1929--------1.49----1.25-----1.11---165---02--13.15---31---5.2
Keeler, 1897-----1.39----1.31-----1.45---164---07--11.28---32---4.0
K.Williams, 1922-1.57----1.18-----1.16---164---08---8.95---30---4.3
Z.Wheat, 1924----1.40----1.27-----1.32---163---00--10.67---35---4.5
Crawford, 1911---1.46----1.29-----1.37---163---00--11.49---32---2.2
Klein,1930-------1.53----1.21-----1.27---159---06--14.17---28---5.6
O'Doul, 1929-----1.46----1.30-----1.35---159---07--11.83---31---5.1
J.Robinson, 1949-1.35----1.29-----1.30---159---06--12.22---36---6.5
Averill, 1936----1.48----1.20-----1.30---159---04--12.86---27---4.0
Rose, 1969-------1.38----1.34-----1.39---158---07--11.94---37---3.7
Terry, 1930------1.38----1.25-----1.32---158---07--14.46---32---5.5
J.Rice, 1978-----1.55----1.13-----1.20---158---17--10.08---36---4.0
Colavito, 1961---1.46----1.22-----1.13---157---01--10.10---33---4.0
P.Waner, 1927----1.42----1.28-----1.34---155---13--10.45---36---3.4
Manush, 1928-----1.44----1.20-----1.34---154---00--11.08---35---2.9
Oliva, 1964------1.45----1.14-----1.30---150---12---9.43---27---3.2
T.Davis, 1962----1.36----1.15-----1.32---148---11--11.70---36---3.6
Trosky, 1936-----1.52----1.05-----1.18---148---04---9.66---21---1.9
B.Williams, 1970-1.49----1.18-----1.24---147---07--11.88---29---3.5
Z.Wheat, 1925----1.30----1.15-----1.22---142---00--10.61---27---2.5
Gehringer, 1936--1.31----1.18-----1.22---142---02--10.37---34---5.9
KiKi Cuyler,1930-1.22----1.18-----1.17---133---03---9.82---29---3.0
Lindstrom, 1930--1.28----1.18-----1.25---132---00--10.78---32---4.7
J.Tobin, 1921----1.19----1.10-----1.20---119---02---8.24---25---0.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Away Games Only, indexed to League Averages.

--------------------Rel.SLG-------Rel.OBP---------Rel.BA.
Musial,1948----------2.03----------1.43------------1.59
Gehrig,1927----------2.01----------1.39------------1.38
Ruth,1921------------1.89----------1.34------------1.21
Hornsby,1922---------1.73----------1.31------------1.36
Wagner,1908----------1.71---------no-data----------1.38
DiMaggio,1937------- 1.71----------1.11------------1.23
Mantle,1956----------1.68----------1.33------------1.28
Foxx,1932------------1.68----------1.22------------1.23
Cobb,1911----------- 1.67----------1.36------------1.54
Yaz,1967-------------1.61----------1.34------------1.36
T.Williams,1949------1.56----------1.32------------1.27
Morgan, 1976---------1.47----------1.36------------1.18
Klein,1930-----------1.45----------1.18------------1.19
Sisler,1920----------1.29----------1.13------------1.20
Morgan, 1975---------1.23----------1.35------------1.23

Wilson,1930---------no-data-------no-data----------no-data
Simmons,1930--------no-data-------no-data----------no-data
Babe Herman,1930----no-data-------no-data----------no-data
Bonds, 2001---------no data-------no data----------no data

name, yr.-----------home HRs-----away HRs------home Slg-----away slg.
Gehrig, 1927----------24-------------23----------.722----------.805
Musial, 1948----------16-------------23----------.618----------.780
Ruth, 1921------------32-------------27----------.929----------.772
Ruth, 1920------------29-------------25----------.985----------.736
Ruth, 1923------------19-------------22----------.805----------.728
DiMaggio, 1937--------19-------------27----------.631----------.711
Hornsby, 1922---------24-------------18----------.741----------.703
Ott, 1929-------------20-------------22----------.575----------.692
Foxx, 1932------------31-------------27----------.820----------.682
Mantle, 1956----------27-------------25----------.746----------.664
Cobb, 1911-------------5--------------3----------.640----------.602
Williams, 1949--------23-------------20----------.710----------.595
Klein, 1930-----------26-------------14----------.794----------.578
Morgan, 1975----------10--------------7----------.540----------.479
Morgan, 1976----------13-------------14----------.597----------.556
Sisler, 1920----------15--------------4----------.760----------.503

Same chart, according to Relative Slugging Average.

----------------Rel.SLG-Rel.OBP--Rel.BA.-OPS+-INK--PCA-----WS--TPR
Ruth, 1920-------2.18----1.52-----1.32---256---16--28.83---51--10.0
Ruth,1921--------2.07----1.43-----1.29---239---16--24.79---53---9.8
Bonds, 2001------2.03 ---1.54-----1.34---262---09--20.82---54--12.2
Ruth, 1923-------1.96----1.55-----1.39---239---16--22.2----55--11.2
Bonds, 2002------1.94----1.74-----1.42---275---09--20.6----49--11.2
Gehrig,1927------1.91----1.34-----1.30---221---07--17.17---44---9.1
Williams, 1941---1.88----1.61-----1.52---235---16--22.1----42---8.8
Ruth, 1924-------1.86----1.43-----1.30---220---16--20.8----45---8.5
Foxx,1932--------1.85----1.35-----1.31---205---14--18.54---40---7.2
Bonds, 2004------1.91----1.82-----1.37---260---09--21.8----53--12.5
Musial,1948------1.83----1.35-----1.44---200---20--20.30---46---7.3
Mantle,1956------1.78----1.36-----1.35---210---18--22.96---49---8.8
Cobb, 1917-------1.78----1.39-----1.54---209---16--19.7----46---8.4
Hornsby,1922-----1.78----1.31-----1.37---207---23--20.37---42---9.2
Wagner,1908------1.77----1.38-----1.48---205---19--18.42---59--10.2
Yaz,1967---------1.77----1.38-----1.38---195---21--16.81---42---6.5
Lajoie, 1901-----1.73----1.39-----1.53---200---23--18.94---42---7.4
Cobb,1911--------1.73----1.38-----1.53---196---22--20.74---47---6.4
F.Robinson, 1966-1.72----1.34-----1.31---199---18--16.48---41---6.8
T.Williams,1949--1.71----1.38-----1.30---192---19--17.24---40---6.6
Simmons,1930-----1.68----1.20-----1.32---176---07--12.94---36---4.5
Cash, 1961-------1.67----1.47-----1.41---201---07--17.30---42---8.3
Medwick, 1937----1.67----1.24-----1.37---180---24--17.47---40---5.2
Brett, 1980------1.66----1.38-----1.44---202---07--12.43---36---7.4
J.Jackson, 1911--1.64----1.38-----1.49---193---00--17.13---39---6.8
Sisler,1920------1.63----1.29-----1.43---181---08--15.40---33---7.6
Mays, 1954-------1.63----1.22-----1.30---175---08--12.11---40---6.8
Speaker, 1912----1.62----1.39-----1.44---188---06--18.13---51---7.1
DiMaggio,1937----1.62----1.16-----1.23---168---07--12.78---39---5.9
Hack Wilson,1930-1.61----1.27-----1.17---178---13--15.81---35---4.9
Kiner, 1951------1.60----1.36-----1.18---184---12--15.64---35---5.1
Al Rosen, 1953---1.60----1.25-----1.28---180---14--15.33---42---6.5
Greenberg, 1937--1.60----1.29-----1.19---172---04--12.38---33---5.5
Delahanty, 1899--1.59----1.35-----1.45---189---16--16.36---41---5.4
Morgan, 1976-----1.59----1.40-----1.25---187---03----?-----37---7.5
Aaron, 1959------1.59----1.24-----1.36---181---10--15.21---38---7.2
H.Duffy, 1894----1.59----1.42-----1.58---177---20--16.44---33---4.0
Snider, 1954-----1.58----1.26-----1.28---170---03--12.33---39---4.2
K.Williams, 1922-1.57----1.18-----1.16---164---08---8.95---30---4.3
Wagner, 1900-----1.56----1.28-----1.36---175---10--16.05---34---4.3
Mize, 1937-------1.55----1.28-----1.33---172---00--14.95---34---3.3
Vaughan, 1935----1.55----1.48-----1.38---190---09--15.72---39---7.6
J.Rice, 1978-----1.55----1.13-----1.20---158---17--10.08---36---4.0
Reiser, 1941-----1.54----1.24-----1.32---165---13--10.22---34---4.7
Zimmerman, 1912--1.54----1.22-----1.36---169---16--13.16---34---5.0
Klein,1930-------1.53----1.21-----1.27---159---06--14.17---28---5.6
Clemente, 1967---1.52----1.28-----1.43---170---07--12.59---35---5.6
Trosky, 1936-----1.52----1.05-----1.18---148---04---9.66---21---1.9
Babe Herman,1930-1.51----1.26-----1.29---170---00--16.26---32---3.5
Sisler, 1922-----1.49----1.34-----1.47---170---13--14.08---29---5.2
Ott, 1929--------1.49----1.25-----1.11---165---02--13.15---31---5.2
B.Williams, 1970-1.49----1.18-----1.24---147---07--11.88---29---3.5
Heilmann, 1921---1.48----1.24-----1.34---167---07--12.13---28---3.4
Averill, 1936----1.48----1.20-----1.30---159---04--12.86---27---4.0
Crawford, 1911---1.46----1.29-----1.37---163---00--11.49---32---2.2
Colavito, 1961---1.46----1.22-----1.13---157---01--10.10---33---4.0
Burkett, 1901----1.46----1.37-----1.40---181---11--15.21---38---5.8
O'Doul, 1929-----1.46----1.30-----1.35---159---07--11.83---31---5.1
Oliva, 1964------1.45----1.14-----1.30---150---12---9.43---27---3.2
Manush, 1928-----1.44----1.20-----1.34---154---00--11.08---35---2.9
P.Waner, 1927----1.42----1.28-----1.34---155---13--10.45---36---3.4
Z.Wheat, 1924----1.40----1.27-----1.32---163---00--10.67---35---4.5
Carew, 1977------1.40----1.35-----1.45---178---10--15.74---37---6.3
Keeler, 1897-----1.39----1.31-----1.45---164---07--11.28---32---4.0
Rose, 1969-------1.38----1.34-----1.39---158---07--11.94---37---3.7
Terry, 1930------1.38----1.25-----1.32---158---07--14.46---32---5.5
T.Davis, 1962----1.36----1.15-----1.32---148---11--11.70---36---3.6
Morgan, 1975-----1.37----1.43-----1.27---169---02----?-----44---9.8
J.Robinson, 1949-1.35----1.29-----1.30---159---06--12.22---36---6.5
Gehringer, 1936--1.31----1.18-----1.22---142---02--10.37---34---5.9
Z.Wheat, 1925----1.30----1.15-----1.22---142---00--10.61---27---2.5
Lindstrom, 1930--1.28----1.18-----1.25---132---00--10.78---32---4.7
KiKi Cuyler,1930-1.22----1.18-----1.17---133---03---9.82---29---3.0
J.Tobin, 1921----1.19----1.10-----1.20---119---02---8.24---25---0.5
The home/away splits were located at Total Baseball, Vol. 1, ed. by John 
Thorn & Pete Palmer with David Reuther, 1989, pp. 2200-2213.

...............OPS+....EqA.....BRAR....BRAR/650 PA
Ruth..........207.....366......1600........97.97
Williams......185.....364......1391........92.35
Bonds.........182.....356......1742........93.35
Gehrig........179.....345......1219........82.02
Hornsby......175.....335......1095........75.12
Mantle........172.....341......1231........80.75
Brouthers.....170....324.......780........66.21
Pujols..........171....343.......515........82.41
J.Jackson.....170....323.......583.........66.60
 Cobb..........167.....326......1394........69.32
Foxx...........163.....327......1012........68.02 
F.Thomas.....160.....342......1146.......81.31 
Musial.........159.....332......1425........72.86
Speaker.......158....318.......1134.......61.49
Ramirez.......157.....334.......904........75.50
Mays..........156.....328......1418........73.78
D.Allen........156.....325.......801........71.19
Aaron.........155.....326......1557........72.60 
DiMaggio...155.....327......825........69.91 
F.Robinson...154.....325.......1257.......69.58
Wagner.......150.....307......1003........55.54 
Lajoie..........150....306........882........54.81
Schmidt.......148....314........940........60.72
McCovey.....148.....318.......960........64.42
A.Rodriguez..145.....322.......812........67.89

Relative ISO:

Babe Ruth: 303 
Lou Gehrig: 230
Mark McGwire: 223
Hank Greenberg: 220
Ted Williams: 220
Jimmy Foxx: 214
Barry Bonds: 213
Johnny Mize 209
Mike Schmidt: 205
Rogers Hornsby: 203
Willie Stargell 199
Mickey Mantle: 198
Dick Allen: 198
Joe DiMaggio: 197 
Mel Ott: 196
Ralph Kiner: 196
Willie McCovey: 192
Harmon Killebrew: 190
Hank Aaron: 187
Willie Mays: 186
Albert Pujols: 182  (6 seasons)
Reggie Jackson: 181
Frank Robinson: 180
Frank Howard 175
Manny Ramirez: 175
Ken Griffey Jr.: 172
Eddie Mathews: 171
Sammy Sosa: 171
Albert Belle: 170
Johnny Bench: 169
Frank Thomas: 169
Stan Musial: 168
Carlos Delgado 168
Ernie Banks: 163 
Alex Rodriguez: 164
Al Simmons: 157
Mike Piazza: 156
Billy Williams: 155
Yogi Berra 153
Rafael Palmeiro: 149
Eddie Murray: 138
George Brett: 138
Al Kaline: 137
Carl Yazstremski: 133
Joe Morgan: 126
Ryne Sandberg: 124
Charlie Gehringer: 120
Roberto Clemente: 117
Paul Waner: 117
Jackie Robinson: 115
Craig Biggio: 101
Roberto Alomar: 095
Tony Gwynn: 088
Pete Rose: 084
Rod Carew: 080
Nellie Fox: 056
------------------------------
Relative ISO: Some Pre-1920 hitters:

Gavvy Cravath 217
Harry Stovey 189
Joe Jackson 187
Sam Crawford 183
Dan Brouthers 178
Sam Thompson 174
Roger Connor 172
Honus Wagner 167
Ed Delahanty 166
Tris Speaker 163
Frank Baker 162
Ty Cobb 159 
Nap Lajoie 159
Buck Ewing 154
Ross Barnes 150
Pete Browning 141
Mike 'King' Kelly 138
Jimmy Ryan 138
Ned Williamson 135
Bill Lange 126
Cap Anson 121
George Gore 114
Jesse Burkett 114
Herman Long 109
Eddie Collins 103
Hughie Jennings 101
Billy Hamilton 0.89
Willie Keeler 0.84
John McGraw 0.77

All-Time list for OPS+ (baseball-Reference)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/le...s_career.shtml

Relative Stats Chart:
http://baseball-fever.com/showpost.p...&postcount=161
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Courtesy of David Kent. Here is a list of the top 100 sluggers of all time based on relative isolated power (min 5000 AB). The values are league adjusted but not park adjusted. (NB: If someone has park factor values for average and slugging, I would love to see it.)

:
Player                AB    Slg    Avg    ISO  Rel ISO
-------------------------------------------------------
Babe Ruth            8399  0.690  0.342  0.348  301.4
Ted Williams         7706  0.634  0.344  0.289  227.8
Lou Gehrig           8001  0.632  0.340  0.292  227.6
Hank Greenberg       5193  0.605  0.313  0.292  223.1
Mark McGwire         6187  0.588  0.263  0.325  217.1
Jimmie Foxx          8134  0.609  0.325  0.284  215.6
Johnny Mize          6443  0.562  0.312  0.250  209.8
Mike Schmidt         8352  0.527  0.267  0.260  208.8
Barry Bonds          9098  0.611  0.300  0.311  208.3
Ralph Kiner          5205  0.548  0.279  0.269  199.6
Dick Allen           6332  0.534  0.292  0.242  199.2
Willie Stargell      7927  0.529  0.282  0.247  199.0
Rogers Hornsby       8173  0.577  0.358  0.218  198.5
Mel Ott              9456  0.533  0.304  0.229  195.6
Joe DiMaggio         6821  0.579  0.325  0.254  195.5
Harry Stovey         6138  0.461  0.289  0.173  195.2
Mickey Mantle        8102  0.557  0.298  0.259  193.5
Willie McCovey       8197  0.515  0.270  0.245  192.3
Dave Kingman         6677  0.478  0.236  0.242  192.1
Harmon Killebrew     8147  0.509  0.256  0.252  190.8
Dolph Camilli        5353  0.492  0.277  0.215  189.7
Hank Aaron          12364  0.555  0.305  0.250  187.3
Willie Mays         10881  0.557  0.302  0.256  186.1
Darryl Strawberry    5418  0.505  0.259  0.247  185.9
Sam Crawford         9570  0.452  0.309  0.143  185.2
Wally Berger         5163  0.522  0.300  0.221  183.3
Frank Robinson      10006  0.537  0.294  0.243  181.5
Dan Brouthers        6711  0.519  0.342  0.177  181.2
Chuck Klein          6486  0.543  0.320  0.223  180.5
Reggie Jackson       9864  0.490  0.262  0.228  179.9
Jim Thome            5726  0.569  0.284  0.285  176.4
Albert Belle         5853  0.564  0.295  0.269  176.1
Rudy York            5891  0.483  0.275  0.208  175.5
Bill Nicholson       5546  0.465  0.268  0.198  175.4
Ken Griffey Jr.      7379  0.560  0.292  0.268  175.3
Frank Howard         6488  0.499  0.273  0.225  175.3
Manny Ramirez        5572  0.599  0.316  0.283  174.5
Juan Gonzalez        6555  0.561  0.295  0.265  173.3
Sam Thompson         5984  0.505  0.331  0.174  173.0
Stan Musial         10972  0.559  0.331  0.228  172.6
Cy Williams          6780  0.470  0.292  0.178  172.1
Roger Connor         7794  0.486  0.317  0.169  171.6
Sammy Sosa           8021  0.545  0.277  0.268  171.3
Honus Wagner        10430  0.466  0.327  0.139  170.9
Babe Herman          5603  0.532  0.324  0.207  169.3
Johnny Bench         7658  0.476  0.267  0.208  168.9
Jose Canseco         7057  0.515  0.266  0.249  168.7
Duke Snider          7161  0.540  0.295  0.244  168.5
Carlos Delgado       5008  0.556  0.282  0.274  168.4
Bob Johnson          6920  0.506  0.296  0.210  168.4
Frank Thomas         6851  0.567  0.308  0.259  168.3
Eddie Mathews        8537  0.509  0.271  0.238  167.4
Larry Walker         6592  0.568  0.314  0.254  167.2
Tris Speaker        10195  0.500  0.345  0.156  166.5
George Foster        7023  0.480  0.274  0.206  166.3
Ty Cobb             11434  0.512  0.366  0.146  166.1
Ed Delahanty         7505  0.505  0.346  0.159  165.6
Norm Cash            6705  0.488  0.271  0.217  165.2
Hal Trosky           5161  0.522  0.302  0.219  165.0
Alex Rodriguez       5590  0.574  0.305  0.268  164.8
Jack Fournier        5208  0.483  0.313  0.170  164.7
Reggie Smith         7033  0.489  0.287  0.202  164.6
Elmer Flick          5597  0.445  0.313  0.132  164.6
Sherry Magee         7441  0.427  0.291  0.135  164.4
Harry Davis          6653  0.408  0.277  0.132  164.4
Frank Baker          5984  0.442  0.307  0.135  163.4
Jack Clark           6847  0.476  0.267  0.209  163.1
Ernie Banks          9421  0.500  0.274  0.225  163.0
Earl Averill         6353  0.534  0.318  0.216  162.8
Bobby Bonds          7043  0.471  0.268  0.203  162.3
Larry Doby           5348  0.490  0.283  0.207  161.7
Harry Heilmann       7787  0.520  0.342  0.179  161.7
Rocky Colavito       6503  0.489  0.266  0.223  161.2
Dale Murphy          7960  0.469  0.265  0.204  160.8
Billy Williams       9350  0.492  0.290  0.202  160.3
Greg Luzinski        6505  0.478  0.276  0.202  160.3
Jay Buhner           5013  0.494  0.254  0.240  160.2
Bob Allison          5032  0.471  0.255  0.217  160.1
Joe Medwick          7635  0.505  0.324  0.181  159.3
Gabby Hartnett       6432  0.489  0.297  0.192  158.9
Joe Gordon           5707  0.466  0.268  0.197  158.9
Al Simmons           8759  0.535  0.334  0.201  158.0
Cecil Fielder        5157  0.482  0.255  0.227  157.6
Jeff Bagwell         7697  0.542  0.297  0.245  157.6
Danny Tartabull      5011  0.496  0.273  0.223  157.2
Roger Maris          5101  0.476  0.260  0.216  157.1
Andre Dawson         9927  0.482  0.279  0.203  157.1
Bob Meusel           5475  0.497  0.309  0.187  156.9
Lee May              7609  0.459  0.267  0.192  156.3
Jim Bottomley        7471  0.500  0.310  0.191  156.2
Mike Piazza          5805  0.562  0.315  0.247  155.8
Jim Rice             8225  0.502  0.298  0.204  155.5
Buck Ewing           5363  0.456  0.303  0.153  155.5
Mike Tiernan         5906  0.463  0.311  0.152  155.4
Roy Sievers          6387  0.475  0.267  0.208  155.3
Fred McGriff         8757  0.509  0.284  0.225  155.1
Nap Lajoie           9589  0.467  0.338  0.128  155.0
Boog Powell          6681  0.462  0.266  0.196  153.9
Tilly Walker         5067  0.427  0.281  0.146  153.6
Eric Davis           5321  0.482  0.269  0.214  153.6

Leading Sluggers/Relative BA: Those sluggers who kept up their BA.

1. Ty Cobb -------- 134.8
2. Joe Jackson ---- 133.1
5. Ted Williams --- 128.1
6. Dan Brouthers -- 127.8
7. Nap Lajoie ----- 127.4
9. Rogers Hornsby - 126.2
10. Tris Speaker -- 125.4
14. Stan Musial ----123.9
16. Honus Wagner -- 123.1
18. Cap Anson ----- 122.7
19. Ed Delahanty -- 122.6
23. Kirby Puckett - 121.0
28. Babe Ruth ----- 119.2
31. Sam Crawford ---118.9
40. Lou Gehrig ---- 117.2
41. Joe DiMaggio -- 117.1
52. Hank Aaron - ---118.0
58. Al Simmons ---- 115.4
59. Frank Baker --- 115.4
65. Mickey Mantle - 115.0
66. Johnny Mize ----115.0
79. Willie Mays ----114.3
86. Jimmie Foxx --- 113.8
95. Frank Robinson  113.4
----Barry Bonds-----113.3
----Frank Thomas----113.0 
----Alex Rodriguez--112.5

And some who didn't keep their Relative BA up.

Frank Howard ----108.
Gavvy Cravath----107.
Ralph Kiner------102.
Reggine Jackson--102.
Jose Canseco-----101.
Sammy Sosa-------101.
Mike Schmidt-----100.
Mark McGwire-----100.
Harmon Killebrew-098.

Relative Stats: courtesy of David Kent:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rel Rel Through 2003, over 5,000 PA, indexed and park adjusted.

Pro+  OBA  Slg                                      Rel     Rel
Rank Rank Rank  Player               PA    Pro+     OBA     Slg
----------------------------------------------------------------
 1    2    1   Babe Ruth          10504   207.0   134.5   172.5 
  2    1    2   Ted Williams        9786   189.5   134.6   154.9
  3   11    3   Lou Gehrig          9554   180.4   126.4   154.0
  4    3    4   Barry Bonds        10963   180.0   131.6   148.4
  5    8    5   Rogers Hornsby      9259   174.7   127.4   147.3
  8   16    6   Joe Jackson         5559   168.7   123.9   144.8
 16  102    7   Hank Greenberg      6061   157.3   113.5   143.9
  6    5    8   Mickey Mantle       9895   172.1   128.3   143.8
 11   40    9   Mark McGwire        7657   162.8   119.0   143.8
 13   43   10   Jimmie Foxx         9599   161.6   117.9   143.7
 21  122   11   Joe DiMaggio        7657   155.6   112.7   142.9
 17   78   12   Johnny Mize         7351   157.0   114.9   142.1
  7    4   13   Dan Brouthers       7656   170.9   129.4   141.4
  9   10   14   Ty Cobb            12777   168.4   127.0   141.4
 22   83   15   Hank Aaron         13919   155.2   114.6   140.6
 18   54   16   Dick Allen          7295   156.7   116.8   140.0
 20   53   17   Willie Mays        12480   156.0   116.8   139.2
 25   52   18   Mike Piazza         6007   154.7   117.0   137.7
 14   24   19   Stan Musial        12677   158.2   121.1   137.1
 38  192   20   Willie Stargell     9017   147.1   110.0   137.1
 19   36   21   Manny Ramirez       5910   156.5   119.8   136.7
 26   41   22   Frank Robinson     11726   154.0   118.5   135.5
 12    9   23   Frank Thomas        8167   162.6   127.3   135.3
 10    6   24   Pete Browning       5315   163.2   128.0   135.3
 15   18   25   Tris Speaker       11679   157.4   123.0   134.3
 23   25   26   Mel Ott            11228   155.0   120.9   134.1
 48  215   27   Albert Belle        6669   142.9   108.9   134.0
 33   60   28   Nap Lajoie         10239   150.0   116.1   133.9
 35   86   29   Ralph Kiner         6247   148.0   114.4   133.7
 40  111   30   Mike Schmidt       10046   146.8   113.2   133.6
 41  131   31   Sam Thompson        6497   145.4   111.9   133.5
 29   42   32   Ed Delahanty        8340   151.5   118.1   133.4
 42  159   33   Ken Griffey Jr.     8161   144.0   110.9   133.1
 32   48   34   Honus Wagner       11518   150.4   117.6   132.9
 36   77   35   Willie McCovey      9681   147.7   114.9   132.9
 43  153   36   Alex Rodriguez      5671   143.9   111.1   132.7
 24   21   37   Roger Connor        8834   154.9   122.2   132.6
 46  158   38   Sam Crawford       10353   143.5   110.9   132.5
 93  514   39   Juan Gonzalez       7014   133.3   100.8   132.5
 49  163   40   Frank Howard        7346   142.8   110.7   132.2
 57  226   41   Jeff Heath          5540   140.4   108.6   131.8
 64  272   42   Wally Berger        5636   138.8   107.2   131.6
 39   66   43   Harry Heilmann      8683   147.0   115.7   131.2
 30   35   44   Jim Thome           6420   150.9   119.8   131.0
 27   20   45   Jeff Bagwell        8626   153.4   122.3   131.0
 44  118   46   Hack Wilson         5454   143.7   112.8   130.9
 50  125   47   Harry Stovey        6832   142.8   112.5   130.3
 58  165   48   Babe Herman         6134   140.2   110.6   129.6
 66  205   49   Darryl Strawberry   6325   138.6   109.3   129.3
102  419   50   Sammy Sosa          8462   132.4   103.1   129.3



      Rel  Rel
Pro+  OBA  Slg                                      Rel     Rel
Rank Rank Rank  Player               PA    Pro+     OBA     Slg
----------------------------------------------------------------
  2    1    2   Ted Williams        9786   189.5   134.6   154.9
  1    2    1   Babe Ruth          10504   207.0   134.5   172.5
  4    3    4   Barry Bonds        10963   180.0   131.6   148.4
  7    4   13   Dan Brouthers       7656   170.9   129.4   141.4
  6    5    8   Mickey Mantle       9895   172.1   128.3   143.8
 10    6   24   Pete Browning       5315   163.2   128.0   135.3
 59    7  267   Billy Hamilton      7544   140.0   127.6   112.4
  5    8    5   Rogers Hornsby      9259   174.7   127.4   147.3
 12    9   23   Frank Thomas        8167   162.6   127.3   135.3
  9   10   14   Ty Cobb            12777   168.4   127.0   141.4
  3   11    3   Lou Gehrig          9554   180.4   126.4   154.0
192   12  582   Roy Thomas          6409   123.6   126.3    97.3
 31   13   74   Edgar Martinez      8113   150.7   125.7   125.1
 52   14  156   Eddie Collins      11525   142.4   124.4   118.1
 28   15   53   Jason Giambi        5460   152.7   123.9   128.8
  8   16    6   Joe Jackson         5559   168.7   123.9   144.8
140   17  420   Rickey Henderson   13316   128.6   123.4   105.2
 15   18   25   Tris Speaker       11679   157.4   123.0   134.3
126   19  372   Wade Boggs         10711   130.0   123.0   107.0
 27   20   45   Jeff Bagwell        8626   153.4   122.3   131.0
 24   21   37   Roger Connor        8834   154.9   122.2   132.6
 82   22  246   George Gore         6104   135.0   122.0   113.1
 76   23  208   Gene Tenace         5504   136.3   121.2   115.0
 14   24   19   Stan Musial        12677   158.2   121.1   137.1
 23   25   26   Mel Ott            11228   155.0   120.9   134.1
232   26  531   Mike Hargrove       6649   121.0   120.8   100.2
105   27  285   Joe Morgan         11278   132.1   120.5   111.6
 34   28   54   Elmer Flick         6293   149.2   120.5   128.7
 56   29  118   Cap Anson          11292   140.9   120.4   120.5
 60   30  137   Jesse Burkett       9525   139.5   120.3   119.2
 37   31   60   Gary Sheffield      8026   147.5   120.1   127.4
419   32  705   Eddie Stanky        5332   109.0   120.0    88.9
143   33  351   Topsy Hartsel       5697   127.9   119.9   108.0
120   34  300   Rod Carew          10422   131.0   119.9   111.1
 30   35   44   Jim Thome           6420   150.9   119.8   131.0
 19   36   21   Manny Ramirez       5910   156.5   119.8   136.7
103   37  260   John Olerud         8360   132.3   119.6   112.7
 81   38  194   Arky Vaughan        7605   135.4   119.5   115.9
107   39  254   Ken Singleton       8529   132.1   119.2   112.9
 11   40    9   Mark McGwire        7657   162.8   119.0   143.8
 26   41   22   Frank Robinson     11726   154.0   118.5   135.5
 29   42   32   Ed Delahanty        8340   151.5   118.1   133.4
 13   43   10   Jimmie Foxx         9599   161.6   117.9   143.7
 99   44  209   Tony Gwynn         10187   132.6   117.8   114.8
 47   45   71   Chipper Jones       6064   143.2   117.8   125.4
388   46  649   Richie Ashburn      9624   110.9   117.8    93.1
111   47  226   Jackie Robinson     5698   131.7   117.7   114.0
 32   48   34   Honus Wagner       11518   150.4   117.6   132.9
167   49  345   Roger Bresnahan     5262   126.0   117.5   108.5
118   50  229   Ross Youngs         5214   131.3   117.4   113.9

__________________
Dave Kent

Relative BA, after 2005:

BA+ Player (thru '05) baseball-reference.com
Currently active players are high-lighted in RED.

1. 134.8 Cobb CF
2. 133.1 JJackson
3. 130.8 Browning
5. 128.1 TWilliams LF
6. 127.8 Dan Brouthers
7. 127.7 Gwynn RF
8. 127.4 Lajoie 2B
9. 127.2 Ichiro
10. 127.0 Carew
11. 126.2 Hornsby
12. 125.4 Speaker
13. 125.3 Pujols
14. 124.4 Tip O'Neill
15. 124.4 Keeler
16. 123.9 Musial 1B
17. 123.7 Boggs 3B
18. 123.6 Donlin
19. 123.1 Wagner SS
20. 122.8 Anson
21. 122.7 Hamilton
22. 122.6 Delahanty
23. 121.8 ECollins
24. 121.6 Burkett
25. 121.0 Puckett
26. 120.7 Clemente
27. 120.4 Oliva
28. 120.3 SThompson
29. 119.4 Heilmann
30. 119.2 Ruth
31. 118.9 Sisler
32. 118.8 Crawford
33. 118.5 KKelly
34. 118.1 Connor
35. 117.9 MoAlou
36. 117.8 Piazza C
37. 117.8 Medwick
38. 117.8 PWaner
39. 117.7 O'Rourke
40. 117.4 Flick
41. 117.3 BTerry
42. 117.2 Gehrig
43. 117.1 JDiMaggio
44. 117.0 Beaumont
45. 116.9 EMartinez
46. 116.9 Mattingly
47. 116.7 Garr
48. 116.4 Mota
49. 116.3 Brett
50. 116.3 DMitchell
51. 116.2 JMcGraw
52. 116.2 LWalker v
53. 116.0 Aaron
57. 115.6 Rose
59. 115.4 Al Simmons
60. 115.4 Frank Baker
66. 115.0 Mantle
67. 115.0 Johnny Mize
71. 114.9 Wheat
75. 114.6 FThomas
82. 114.3 Mays
90. 113.8 Foxx
93. 113.8 Roush
99. 113.4 Frank Robinson

[DiMag4Life]

Joe DiMaggio

[DiMag4Life]

May I ask how you start a chart?
----------------------------------------------
Oh that! That 'box' is obtained by the use of the brackets.

Put this around the stuff you want to encapsulate. [ goes at the front, and then type the word, code, and then put the other bracket ]

Make sure you get them right. Left bracket in front, right bracket in back.

At the conclusion of that material of which you wish to create the box, don't forget to type, [/code]. The slash is essential to insert.

That will finish the point you wish to encapsulate in your 'box'.

If you do it right, it will encapsulate your material in that box, and also line them up in very neat columns. But be aware. The columns will normally require some adjusting. So you will have to use your backspace key (located on your top, right of your keyboard, and also your space key. Your space key is the long key located on the bottom, middle of your keyboard.

So, using all those keys, that is how we set up a chart. If you follow my instructions to the letter, you should be able to create a chart, even if it takes a long time to adjust the columns. It always takes me a long time too, so don't despair.

[csh19792001]

Wow, seriously, how do we not have a thread dedicated exclusively to Joe Dimaggio?

Joe D. has been one of my sources of greatest interest among historical figures, and certainly one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures in baseball history. I'm bringing some of this back from previous posts for those who have not yet seen it.

First I'll talk more about the statistical side, since few ever had it worse than Dimaggio. No truly great ML slugger ever overcame more.

From: The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs, by Bill Jenkinson:

For example, Joe DiMaggio was acutely handicapped by playing at Yankee Stadium. Every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him. That's right! If you look at a baseball field from foul line to foul line, it has a 90-degree radius. From the power alley in left center field (430 in Joe's time) to the fence in deep right center field (407 feet), it is 45-degrees. And Joe DiMaggio never hit a single home run over the fences at Yankee Stadium in that 45-degree graveyard. It was just too far. Joe was plenty strong; he routinely hit balls in the 425-foot range. But that just wasn't good enough in cavernous Yankee Stadium. Like Ruth, he benefited from a few easy homers each season due to the short foul line distances. But he lost many more than he gained by constantly hitting long fly outs toward center field. Whereas most sluggers perform better on their home fields, Joe D hit only 41 percent of his career home runs in the Bronx. In his day, DiMaggio recorded 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home field career.

Which would bring his total to roughly 440 homeruns in 13 seasons.

Author/statistician Michael Schell confirms this with his research in this book:

Baseball's All-Time Best Sluggers: Adjusted Batting Performance from Strikeouts to Home Runs

Consider that it took nearly 70 years- including 43 years with the 162 game schedule and drastically reduced left field dimensions in 1976- for another right handed Yankee hitter to hit 40 homeruns (Dimaggio hit 46 in 1937, Rodriguez hit 48 in 2005).

Michael Schell calculated (based on the right handed park effects for Yankee Stadium) that ceteris paribus, Dimaggio would have had about 429 career homeruns. Obviously it's a projection, but clearly a very well substantiated one based on all of the information available on Yankee Stadium and right handed hitters in the old Yankee Stadium. Not coincidentally, according to Schell (p. 289), from 1946-73 Yankee right handed hitters hit only 37% of their homeruns at home.

[csh19792001]

From Fay Vincent's book:

Dimaggio was a perfect baseball player his first 6 years. Despite playing in a pitchers' park, and one of the worst for right handed power hitters, his line was .345/.408/.626 with 198 homeruns and ONLY 160 career strikeouts. In 37' he had 418 total bases and produced the 7th most runs of any American Leaguer in any single season- and all of this as the best centerfielder in the game.

Nonetheless (and despite being right handed, a huge disadvantage in and of itself), and playing in Yankee Stadium, Dimaggio should have hit .400 in 1939.

This is excerpted from Fay Vincent's book.

"May I ask you a fan's questions?"

"You are the commissioner of baseball. You can ask me anything you want, Mr. Commissioner. I'll answer."

I warmed him up with some innocent questions. But then:

"How come you never hit 400?" I asked.

"Now that is a question almost nobody asks me," he said.

"They're afraid. I know you won't yell at me."

"It's a good question," DiMaggio said. This was a pleasing thing, to be able to ask DiMaggio — the great DiMaggio, as Ernest Hemingway called him in The Old Man and the Sea — a good question. "In 1939, I was going to hit .400. Right around the first of September, we clinched the pennant. We always clinched around the first of September. Right about then, I was hitting .408.

"I was going to hit over .400 that year. Then I got an eye infection. Couldn't see out of the infected eye. Our manager was Joe McCarthy. Every day, McCarthy puts me in the lineup. Commissioner, that guy made out a lineup card in April and he never changed it. Every day I'd go to the ballpark, every day my eye is getting worse and worse, and every day I'm in the lineup. I couldn't hit. My average starts falling. Finally, the eye gets so bad they have to give me an injection in the eye. And McCarthy still has me in the lineup. I wouldn't say anything to him. Now I did not have a bad year, Commissioner. I batted .381. But with my eye amost closed I had to open my stance. The infection was in my left eye, the lead eye. So I had to swing my left foot around to try to see the ball, but I couldn't. I had trouble and my average fell. That was my year to bat .400 and I didn't do it."
My little interview was going all right, so I asked the follow-up question: "Joe, did McCarthy ever tell you why he kept you in the lineup every day with the eye infection?"

"Yes, one time," Joe said. "We were in Buffalo, speaking together. He says, 'Joe, did you ever wonder why the hell I kept you in the lineup that year, when you had the bad eye?'

"I said, 'Yes, I did.'

"He says, 'Because I didn't want you to be a cheese champion.'"

"Cheese champion?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, Commissioner," Joe said. "I never asked."

(A cheese champion is (what I infer to be) a player who sits on the bench and inherits records or accolades largely by virtue of his not playing, I presume.) Anyone on the cusp of hitting .400 at the end of the year is going to regress to the mean (i.e., is very likely to drop under .400 the more that player comes to the plate). Especially given that players tend to wear down physically by the end of the year and drop off statistically.

[csh19792001]

"Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That's the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century." -Mickey Mantle

"He's the most complete ball player I've ever seen. He can hit, hit for power, run, throw, and play the outfield." -Joe McCarthy who was then asked by a reporter if he could bunt to which he replied, "I'll never know."

"Name a better right handed hitter, or a better thrower, or a better fielder, or a better base runner. That's right, a better base runner. Did you ever see him slide when he hooked the bag with his toe? Absolutely perfect." -Hank Greenberg

"He was just a smooth outfielder and smooth in his hitting. No mistakes, ever. He was a solid ball player in every way. I never saw him make a mistake, but there was a smooth way he had of going about everything. That's why they put that name on him, The Yankee Clipper." - Red Schoendienst

"Ted Williams was the greatest hitter I ever saw, but (Joe) DiMaggio was the greatest all around player." - Bob Feller

"I got to the Yankees and I saw DiMagio play a few games and I realized in a hurry this was the greatest ballplayer I ever saw in my life, the greatest ballplayer any of us ever saw... But Joe was kind of a cold guy, everybody knew that." -Tommy Heinrich

"When I came to the Yankees, I think everyone recognized that Joe was already the best player in the game. But the relationship with Joe and the other guys wasn't close. I couldn't say that. But he was a solid guy, and if anybody needed help or advice or anthing like that, Joe was there." -Charlie Keller

"I can describe Joe in one word: class. He was the most perfect ballplayer I ever saw, but, he was a shy fellow. I'll tell you something else though. When Joe DiMaggio walks into the clubhouse, the lights flicker. He's the star." -Pete Sheehy

"Joe was the team leader but he never said much. Players just watched what he did and tried to imitate him. Everybody gravitated to him, everybody wanted to be like him." -Phil Rizzuto

"One thing about Joe that really nobody understands. I don't think I knew it then either. He gave a thousand percent every game, day in and day out, for a lot of years. The public paid good money and expected a spectacular performance out of him every day. That's impossible." -Allie Reynolds

"Nothing made Joe happier than to do well in a big series and help the club win. He was a winner in the finest sense of the word. He was simply the greatest ball player I ever saw and it's not easy for a man to carry that burden. Joe carried it with class and dignity." -Jerry Coleman

"Without a doubt, Joe was one of the greatest leaders in the history of baseball. 'The only thing you can really say about Joe now is the same as we all said then: He just has a hell of a lot of greatness in him.'" -Ralph Houk

"Joe was absolutely fearless, he played in an unintimidable manner. I guess I've known Joe almost forty years now. We've played hundreds of games against each other. I've talked to him hundreds of times at banquets and at Shor's and places like that. In a way though, I guess I really don't know him. I don't know if anybody knows Joe DiMaggio." -Hank Greenberg

[csh19792001]

The best Dimaggio biographies/books, IMO:
-Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?: The story of America's last hero (Allen)
-Summer of '49 (Halberstam)
-Joe DiMaggio : The Hero's Life (Cramer)
-I Remember Joe Dimaggio (Cataneo)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting that Stengel had seemingly changed his advice. I've read that Stengel had been imploring Mantle to study Joe that season. "Watch the Daig" he'd said. They also called Joe "The Big Dago".

The new Yankee coach in 51' was Tommy Heinrich, whose instruction included the admonition to Mantle: “You play off Dimaggio”. Richard Ben Cramer writes in his biography:

"But still, in 1951, Mick was green as the grass in right field: he’d never seen these batters- had no idea how they hit, where to play. And Henrich hadn’t quite drummed home the crucial instruction. "You Play Off Dimaggio". Joe was a Univac out there. He no only knew every hitter in the league; he knew what every Yankee pitcher would throw; and he’d see, right away, if their curve wasn’t biting, if they’d lost a couple inches on their fastball- then the hitter would get around just that much faster, and Joe would be shading two or three steps into the alley where the hitter would pull the ball (right into Dimaggio’s glove). Every other kid on the Yankees learned: Watch the Dago- if he moved, you move. Not Mantle. He wouldn’t look at Dimaggio. Maybe he couldn’t. Joe would be flicking his glove at the kid, like he was shooing a fly- move over!! Mantle would stare in at the plate until the ball was hit, and then he’d chase it to the wall."

This also gives some more insight into Dimaggio's brilliance in the field and the respect he garnered from teammates and managers even long after his prime.

[csh19792001]

I've looked in some depth into Joe's career, with specific interest on examining his injuries, his relationships with his teammates and managers, and the perception of him as a player by his peers.

Here is some information on his health and the ongoing injuries which plagued him.

Joe had endured foot problems his entire career- tracing all the way back to 1936, when the famous old Yankees trainer "Doc" Painter put Joe's foot in a "Diathermy Machine" and burned him so badly that Dimaggio missed missed an entire month- spring training and three weeks of the season. Foot problems coupled with botched remedies was a recurring theme in his career.Joe's postwar career was replete with a litany of ailments and injuries- both chronic and discrete. He was famous for playing all out, sacrificing his body on hard slides and diving catches, and that coupled with a seemingly frail physique made for a host of problems.

In 46', his heel spurs got so bad that the pain was unbearable- he only hit five homeruns the entire second half of the year and played in crippling pain. In mid June he sprained his ankle and tore cartiledge in his knee after catching his spikes while sliding hard into second. He had to be carried off the field. When he returned, he was quoted in The New York Times as saying:

"In my case, it generally looks as if somebody had shortened the distance between the plate and the box, and the pitcher is right on top of me. The result is that when I swing, my bat is behind me when it should be in front of me, and I'm not able to get it out in time to meet the ball. I worry. My stroke is off."

In the spring of 47', the Yanks played exhibitions in San Juan, Caracas, and Havana. When Dimaggio was picked up from the airport Puerto Rico, the Yankees traveling secretary commented that "Joe came off the plane hobbling with a cane. His heel was grotesque- it was stiched up like a bad shoemaker had fixed it." Penicillin, the newly developed panacea, did nothing for Dimaggio, and maggots were sewn underneath the skin in hopes of eating aaway the infection/dead flesh. Later that year, the doctors of Johns Hopkins took a piece of skin from Dimaggio's thigh and grafted it onto the wound.

In 48', he again played an entire season in seething pain. The stabbing pain in Joe's heel and the knee pain were brutal. Every day the team trainer would wrap his thigh with a tight cinch of gauze and tape, and then another around his midriff to counterbalance the one on his leg.

"One by one, he ticked off the places where he had to be taped: his charley horse thigh, his cinch around his midriff, a patch on his hip for a strawberry slider, a bandage on his left hand. 'I'm playing, but I feel like a mummy' he quipped." (Cramer)

In the winter of 48', Dimag went to Baltimore once again to have his heel operated on at Johns Hopkins. He arrived at spring training on cruches, and the by March 2nd he could hardly walk. Back again for another operation, again unsuccessful- the infection was so bad that his foot radiated a constant heat. He was hospitalized for nearly three months, and the boatloads of painkillers gave him ulcers. He wasn't even able to be a pallbearer at his father's funeral in June of that year. Joe missed eight of eleven opening day starts at that point due to injury. Of course, how Dimaggio came back to carry his team to the pennant over Boston, playing in incredible pain throughout, is part of his legacy and lore.

Dimaggio's arm essentially went dead the last few years of his career (he'd had elbow problems, and operations, on several occasions before that). He commented later that he only had "one good throw per game", and as a result, never even engaged in long toss during warmups, which is a universal for outfielders. On June 3rd on 1950, due to arm problems, he even consented to play first base and handled thirteen putouts without an error. Dimag moved back to center field only because Hank Bauer sprined his ankle sliding into second base.

In April of 51' the pain in his shoulder caused him to miss an entire month. He could hardly throw or swing a bat. Others commented that he could no longer turn on the ball (Dimaggio himself called the homers he hit over the cheap right field wall "piss homers....I could piss over that wall." The other main factor, aside from the injuries, was that Dimaggio grew to hate Stengel (and vice versa). When Stengel tried to substitute Johnny Hopp for him in center field during the second inning of a June 6th game at Yankee Stadium, Dimaggio vowed never to speak to Stengel again. Stengel responded by benching him during the entire All Star game in an effort to humiliate him.

Milton Gross wrote about the summer of 51': "I did recognize a profound difference in the personal climate that surrounds Dimaggio and the Yankees this season. It is a frigid one, all because Joe, who always a strange man, difficult to understand, is now living in a shell which is virtually impenetrable."

It took four rooms to stage Dimaggio's official statement of retirement:

"I told you fellows last spring I thought this would be my last year. I only wish I could have had a better year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been the last for me. You all know I have had more than my share of physical injuries and setbacks during my career. In recent years these have been too frequent to laugh off. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game. And so, I've played my last game of ball."

And one other thing....Dimaggio, unlike almost all of the stars of his era and all of those preceeding his, also did not need the money. He had what was purported to be roughly a million dollars stowed safely away at the Bowery Bank in Manhattan.

[DiMag4Life]

Brilliant stuff, csh.

[DiMag4Life]

-----------------------------------------

[DiMag4Life]

-----------------------------------------

[DiMag4Life]

Here's a clip of Joe D. If you want to check out his swing, go to the 2:28 mark, it's old footage of DiMaggio swings up until the 3:38 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBeV8khJL78

A light hearted DiMag video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTIMCmemA8

[DiMag4Life]

Hit streak game logs:

--------AB------R-------H-------2B------3B------HR-----RBI
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	4 	2 	2 	0 	1 	1 	1
	3 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	3 	3 	3 	1 	0 	0 	1
	3 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0
	5 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	5 	0 	2	0 	0 	0 	1
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	5 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2
	4 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	5 	3 	4 	0 	0 	1 	3
	4 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	1	
	3 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	2 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	3 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	2 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1 	1
	5 	1 	3 	0 	1 	0 	1
	5 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	4 	3 	2 	0 	0 	2 	4
	4 	1 	2 	1 	0 	1 	3
	5 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	2 	0 	0 	1 	1
	2 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1	
	3 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1 	1
	5 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	3 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	3 	2 	3 	0 	0 	1 	4
	5 	3 	4 	1 	0 	0 	1
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	5 	1 	2 	1 	0 	1 	2
	4 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1 	3
	4 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1
	3 	1 	2 	0 	0 	1 	2
	5 	1 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0
	5 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	4 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	1
	3 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	1
	5 	1 	1 	0 	0 	1 	3
	4 	2 	1 	0 	0 	1 	2
	5 	2 	4 	1 	0 	0 	2
	4 	0 	2 	0 	1 	0 	2
	2 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	5 	1 	3 	0 	0 	1 	2
	5 	1 	2 	1 	0 	0 	1
	4 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	3 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
	4 	1 	2 	1 	0 	0 	2
	4 	3 	3 	1 	0 	0 	0

[PeteReiser]

Here's a clip of Joe D. If you want to check out his swing, go to the 2:28 mark, it's old footage of DiMaggio swings up until the 3:38 mark

That swing! There is a visciousness about that swing that I always felt was unique. I think it's because he stood so still waiting on the pitch and then exploded on it all in one motion, unlike most hitters who wave the bat or have a little hitch they do as the pitch approaches?

[DiMag4Life]

That swing! There is a visciousness about that swing that I always felt was unique. I think it's because he stood so still waiting on the pitch and then exploded on it all in one motion, unlike most hitters who wave the bat or have a little hitch they do as the pitch approaches?

Y'know, that's a good point. I think that's why old timers remember him so vividly. You just don't forget a swing like that.

[DiMag4Life]

Another DiMag video, a little similar to the last one.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMP5qqacvMk

[DiMag4Life]

Article written by Jimmy Cannon titled "Could Mantle Make 'Em forget Joe? Forget it."


"Wouldn't it be a shame if Mickey Mantle made them forget Joe?"

That question, posed at the beginning of an April 1951 column by Jimmy Cannon of the New York Post, came on the eve of a season in which Mickey Mantle made his major league debut and Joe DiMaggio ended his career.

Cannon proceeded to answer the question:

Anyone who ever saw Joe DiMaggio play ball should remember him always. It could end now and they still couldn't forget him. Only a few men have what Joe has and brought with him to the big leagues. There was nothing they could teach him when he came up. It was there, big and clear. There never was any doubt about it. The record books will not substantiate the claim that he has been the greatest of his age. Other guys hit for higher averages, struck more home runs. But this is the whole ballplayer, complete and great. There are no defects to discuss except his age.

The ballplayers, trying to be what he is, know how superior he is. On the field Joe performs without passion, but he has a stately grace. Only Joe Louis matched his pure athlete's dignity. Many times, watching him from the press box, I wondered what this man would have been if he hadn't come into baseball. But there seems no other trade for him.

It may sound sentimental and foolishly romantic, but this was a guy who was born to be a ballplayer. I can't imagine him doing anything else. Joe is a man who was meant to play ball on hot afternoons on the grass of big cities. He doesn't belong in the rain.

You who pay your way into ballparks will probably never forget him coming up with the bases full and hitting a home run off Bob Feller in the Stadium ... Drifting back after a fly ball with that slow and marvelous certainty ... Going from first to third on a single, his long neck arched and running round-shouldered ... Occasionally being called out on a 3-2 pitch and going back to the dugout without a protest ... Hobbling, crippled and in pain, around the outfield with the chipped bones in his foot making it seem like he was walking on slivers of glass ... Playing in a World Series, weak from pneumonia ... Doing what he had to do when the time came ... Standing up and proving his greatness every time there was a crisis ... Making a speech at home plate and apologizing to the people in the bleachers because the microphones made him turn his back to them ... Three times the league's Most Valuable Player ... A life-time average of .329 ... Nine World Series ... The All-Star team every year ... Hitting in 56 consecutive games in 1941 ... Doing it every day and making it easier than it is ... Being the leader of the Yankees no matter who the manager was ... Winning sometimes with his presence alone because the other people knew how good he was and choked up a little.

On the road trip, the first time around the league, he was a quiet kid but friendly. There were some who insisted he was inaccessible then and suspicious. But I found him easy to be with and his constant companions were Lefty Gomez and Pat Malone. We had a lot of laughs that first season, but Joe quit early on the road. There was a banquet for him in every town he played. Old men of Italian descent, who never saw a ballgame before, turned out in big crowds. They liked it better in the bleachers because they were nearer to him.

There was the time in Detroit when he asked me if I liked Italian food and I said I did. The season was '36. "Meet me in the lobby after the game," Joe said. "They're giving me a dinner in a spaghetti joint. It's great food."

I came down into the lobby and asked one of the Yankees where Joe was. They told me he was in the dining room. He was eating a steak, a mixed green salad and french-fried potatoes.

"If the Italian food's so good," I asked him, "why are you ducking it?" "I'm just having a little snack," Joe explained.

He went to the Italian restaurant and never passed up a course and asked for seconds on the spaghetti. He led the league with the knife and fork then.

No matter what Mickey Mantle does I'll always remember ... Fishing for sail with him in the Gulf ... Walking down Broadway and the delight he causes when they recognize him ... Sitting with him in his apartment at the Edison Hotel when his leg was in a cast and listening to the ballgames at the Stadium ... Drinking Coke with him after the ballgames in front of his locker at the Stadium ... Nights at the dog track in St. Pete ... The late Eddie Duchin, who was his friend, playing a special concert for Joe in the private room upstairs in Shor's ... Listening to him explain why his brother Dom was the best ballplayer in the family ... Telling bedtime stories to his son ... Remembering DiMaggio never lied to me ... Or broke his word ... Or hurt anyone to make himself a bigger man.

You don't forget a guy like this.

[DiMag4Life]

"Joe D. in 1949. Eight workouts and then socko"



"Babe Ruth alone could match Joe's flair for drama, for putting on a show and responding to an occasion. (But) not even Ruth would have put on the kind of demonstration DiMaggio staged (in Boston).

"Eight workouts and then socko. ... The answer is this: The man is a pro."

Yankees manager Casey Stengel, obviously in awe, was reflecting on Joe DiMaggio's return to the New York lineup after the Yankee Clipper missed the first 65 games of the 1949 season because of a heel injury.

DiMaggio played his first game of the '49 season on June 28 -- and highlighted a Yankees victory over the Red Sox with a two-run homer. The next day, he walloped two homers at Fenway Park -- one a three-run shot and the other a bases-empty game-winner -- as New York rebounded from a 7-1 deficit to win, 9-7. And in the series finale -- another Yankees win -- he smashed a three-run homer.

Considering his nine RBIs in the three games, DiMaggio was asked if he could have come back sooner.

"Young man, I am no jake. Remember that," DiMaggio said with a laugh.

Another reporter wondered how DiMaggio could possibly have been in such a groove in his first appearance of the season.

"(I) just go up and swing and manage to hit the ball," he said. "There is, of course, no skill involved."

[DiMag4Life]

DiMag bows out after 16 years as Bomber

By Dan Daniel
The Sporting News

December 19, 1951

At 2 p.m., Tuesday, December 11, in the 745 Fifth Avenue offices of the Yankees, Mickey Mantle was installed as the new center fielder of the Bombers by Casey Stengel.

Joseph Paul DiMaggio, for 13 of his 16 years on the New York roster, with three out for Army service, just had announced retirement, and no sooner had he made his move than Casey Stengel came along with his ring out the old, ring in the new.

In a press conference during the minor league meeting in Columbus, Stengel had said, "If DiMaggio retires, it will be Mantle or Jackie Jensen in center."

In the immediate wake of the DiMaggio announcement. Casey said, "My center field plans start with Mantle. In Columbus, I had to bracket him with Jensen because I was douhtful about Mickey's right knee, injured in the second game of the World's Series.

"Now I have no each uncertainty. I have been assured by Dr. Sidney Gaynor, as well as Dr. George Bennett of Johns Hopkins, that Mantle will be in fine condition when we summon him to our St. Petersburg (Fla.) training camp.

"I do not, at this time, expect to have Mantle work out in the preliminary camp at Lake Wales, Fla., which will open February 12. 1 plan to have Mickey report with the first squad at St. Petersburg on February 22. However, all this will be worked out later.

"Mantle has youth, only 21, the age at which DiMaggio reported to Joe McCarthy in 1936.

"Mantle has speed. He is a hitter. He learns fast. He is eager. But, unlike DiMaggio in 1936, Mickey is green. He has been an outfielder for only one season. Joe came to the Yankees from tremendous successes with San Francisco."

Doubtful About Trade

Asked if it were likely that the Yankees would make a deal for an experienced center fielder, Stengel replied:

"I do not believe we will make a trade before the opening of training. In fact, right now all trades are off insofar as I am concerned."

With Mantle moving over to center field, and Jensen his understudy, Stengel will start training with Hank Bauer, Gene Woodling, Bob Cerv and Archie Wilson as availables for the other positions.

Cerv, whose arm is not too highly regarded, may be thrown into the first base scramble.

The retirement of DiMaggio surprised many. To others it was no surprise at all.

The Clipper hit .263 last season, with 12 homers and 71 runs driven in, a record good enough to encourage him to play another year with the Bombers.

However, the prideful Joe did not like the idea of lingering for a complete fadeout. Besides, as he revealed in the December 11 press conference, "Old Injuries caught up with me, and brought on new ones. I found that it was a chore for me to straighten up after I had retrieved a ground ball. In short, I was not pleased with myself any longer, and all the fun had gone out of playing the game."

Joe was out of work exactly 24 hours. When DiMag told the world he had played his last game, Dan Topping said Joe would be retained "in some capacity" by the club. And the next day Topping announced that the Yankees had hired the former center fielder as the Stadium television narrator. The contract calls for a before-and-after game job, the stint formerly filled by Dizzy Dean.

After DiMaggio told the press and radio men of his decision, December 11, Topping said: "Del (Webb) and I worked on Joe until 10 o'clock last night, trying to talk him into remaining as a player, but he was firm.

"Then we talked television with him."

Joe admitted that he had received many TV and radio propositions and was interested in the Stadium job. He said he'd "like to loaf for a year, but I can't afford it," with a chuckle.

On December 12, Topping announced Joe had been signed for the video work. It is believed that with outside commitments, and possibly a play-by-play program added to his before-and-after-game stuff, The Clipper will better the $100,000 a year he got as the champions' center fielder. And the club still will be cashing in on Joe's popularity.

The press conference in which Joe announced his retirement was without precedent in size and confusion.

The writers were far outnumbered by the newsreel, radio and TV specialists. The sandwiches, coffee and cheese cake had to be replenished thrice.

DiMaggio first issued a formal, typed statement, and then sat down and answered questions.

Recalls Spring Prediction

The statement referred to the interview which Joe gave to three evening newspaper writers in his quarters in the Adams Hotel in Phoenix, Aria., last February. That was the interview in which he said, "This could be my last year." Joe explained that he knew then it would be his last season. The statement follows:

"I told you fellows last spring I thought this would be my last year. I only wish I could have had a better year. But even if I had hit .350, this would have been the last year for me.

"You all know I have had more than my share of physical injuries and setbacks during my career. In recent years these have been much too frequent to laugh off. When baseball is no longer fun it's no longer a game.

"And so I've played my last game of ball.

"Since coming to New York I've made a lot of friends and picked up a lot of advisers, but I would like to make on point clear -- no one has influenced me in making this decision. It has been my problem and my decision to make.

"I feel that I have reached the stage I where I can no longer produce for my ball club, my manager, my teammates and my fans the sort of baseball their loyalty to me deserves.

"In closing, I would like to say that I feel I have been unusually privileged to play all my major league baseball for the New York Yankees.

"But it has been an even greater privilege to be able to play baseball at all. It has added much to my life. What I will remember most in days to come will be the greet loyally of the fans. They have been very good to me."

In discussing reasons for his retirement while yet rated a fine ball player, The Clipper charged night ball with cutting two years off his career.

It's the Next Afternoon

"Playing after dark is not, in itself, tough," Joe revealed. "But the next afternoon you need four or five innings to get back on the beam.

"Night ball presents a lot of problems. If it were all night ball except on Sundays, it would not be so rugged."

DiMaggio insisted that he had made up his mind to retire after the 1951 season as early as last February, when be told the World-Telegram and Sun that "this could be my last year."

That DiMaggio would not play in 1952 was predicted last April by a specialist in Dallas, Tex., to whom Joe had been sent by Del Webb.

"DiMaggio has spurs in both shoulders, and I believe he has other arthritic involvements which will force him to quit after this season," the medico told Del.

"The injuries forced me to quit," DiMaggio explained.

"I reached my peak in 1948. And then I felt myself slide. I discovered that base-runners were moving on me, and that straightening for the throw after bending for a ground ball was a difficult operation."

DiMaggio said he was not interested in a chance to manage a big league club.

"The fact is, I do not want to put on a baseball uniform again, and I do not want to worry about 25 other men," he concluded.

[DiMag4Life]

Jolter's $100,000 tops richest club payroll in game's history

By Dan Daniel
The Sporting News

February 1, 1950

Lavish is the word for it. The way that dough is being tossed around the Yankee offices, it makes your bank balance water.

Joe DiMaggio, $100,000, no strings attached. Tommy Heinrich, $40,000. Phil Rizzuto, $40,000. Allie Reynolds, $25,000. Joe Page sure to get $35,000. It all will come to the richest payroll in the history of baseball, and it traces to our federal income tax setup.

Time was when a player landing a $10,000 increase and signing a contract for 40 grand came out with exultation. Now he emerges from the George Weiss Sanctum with the look of a business man who just had made a fair-to-middling deal. He says, "I got what I wanted, but the club could have given me more and lost nothing by it. Instead of the Yankees handing it to Uncle Sam, I get the chance to do so."

The first successful Yankee to encounter Weiss in a salary discussion was Reynolds. He visited George on the morning of January 20. Wahoo got nowhere and left, registering discouragement.

Weiss apparently had decided to hold firm. The dope was that he had set himself to begin whittling DiMaggio's base pay by 25 percent and to offer the Clipper a bonus contract under which he still could get a hundred grand if he played 130 games. The ideas was to look ahead with an eye to the rule which prevents cutting a player more than 25 percent any year.

Dan and Del soften George

However, on the evening of January 20m Weiss talked with Dan Topping and Del Webb, owners of the Yankees, over the telephone.

George also had a long-distance conversation with DiMaggio, who was in San Francisco.

"Don't be tough on the boys," said Topping. Webb must have made some reference of the tax setup. Then the fat contracts began to pour out of George's office like spring flood waters over a dam.

When Rizzuto came out of Weiss' office, he said, "George had been softened up. I am going to tip off all the unsigned boys to dash in here and grab while Weiss is in this mood."

DiMaggio came into town January 23 and attended the Charlie Keller dinner held that night. Joe was happy and carefree and tipped the fact that he already had made his deal with the club.

The following afternoon, with the newsreels grinding, Joe signed a one-year contract calling for $100,000.

Weiss refused to talk about the salary, but Red Patterson's dope sheet on Joe, listing all his salaries, had a $100,00 figure for 1949, which meant a hundred grand for 1950.

DiMaggio said, "I feel great. No pains, no twinges, no spurs in the heels. Maybe I can through an entire training season and even play the pennant-opener. I sure have had rotten luck in the past. Now I look forward to some compensating breaks.

"We will have to knock down the Red Sox again. They will be rougher. The Tigers could be tougher. The Athletics? I can't see them better than fifth.

"I will return to San Francisco on February 3 and go back to golf.

"I have become quite a golf addict," related Joe. "I used to joke about those links nuts. Now they can kid me, because I have it pretty badly. I hope to break 100 for the first time before I leave San Francisco for St. Petersburg, Fla.

"Once I start training, I will drop golf. I am sure that the baseball and golf swings do not get on together very well.

"Some day, when I am through as a ballplayer, I will give golf a real going over. It is exercise. It is a stimulus."

Joe was more sunburned than he ever is during the summer.

"I plan to be on two more championship teams. After that? Well, why don't you write the ticket for me?" Joe laughed.

Just what will the ticket read? There are a lot of folks around here who believe Joe will be the next pilot of the Bombers. But there also are a lot who tell you that Tommy Heinrich holds a priority.

[DiMag4Life]

Joe DiMag sets all-time hitting streak mark

By Daniel M. Daniel
The Sporting News

July 3, 1941

For the last few weeks there has been considerable public discussion of the question whether, given a chance to choose between Joe DiMaggio and Bob Feller, a major league manager would pick the outfielder or the pitcher. It seems to me that recent developments have furnished an ample answer. I have seen Feller pitch and he is the current No. 1. 1 also have seen this man DiMaggio in action day after day, in the vast majority of games in which he has competed since he joined the Yankees. And I would choose Giuseppe.

DiMaggio's great batting streak, which has beaten the modern record of 41 straight games set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in their near-pennant season of 1922, merely calls attention to the superlatives of this young man from San Francisco. Most emphatically, he is The Sporting News "Player of the Month." Make it "Player of the Year." Yes, I know all about the recent achievements of Ted Williams, who threatens to remain up there through the campaign.

DiMaggio started his batting spree on May 15, against the lefthanded Edgar Smith of the White Sox. He got one hit that afternoon. On May 14, Joe had been shut out by Mel Harder, the most difficult pitcher in the league for him. Harder has had Joe's number ever since the outfielder came to the Yanks in 1936.

However, DiMaggio ran into Mel again during the streak in the nightcap of a double-header on June 1, and hurdled the eighteenth successive game. It was touch-and-go in the finale that afternoon, but DiMag went, banging a hit through Ken Keltner.

At times in that streak, DiMaggio cut it much too fine to suit the customers. On six occasions he did not get his hit until his last time at bat. The most dramatic of these came June 26, against Elden Auker of the Browns. Auker set out to stop DiMaggio and in Joe's first three efforts he certainly was stopped.

Chance for Gift Hit. Not Awarded

In the second inning, DiMaggio flied out to Roy Cullenbine. In the fourth Joe crashed a hot rounder right at Johnny Berardino. who booted it. The scorer could have made it a hit, but the scorer was going to let Joe make his own hits, the way Joe wanted to make them. So the error sign was hung up. In his third effort, DiMag grounded out to Harlond Clift.

Came the eighth inning, with the Yankees and the crowd -- and the press box, too -- all excited. Would he be stopped?

DiMaggio was the fourth man on the list before Auker. The underhanded slinger was determined not to be forced to face Joe again. But he was too anxious. Johnny Sturm was retired and Red Rolfe wangled a pass on four bad ones.

Now came Tom Henrich. Joe McCarthy wasn't going to risk a double-play, so he ordered Thomas to bunt. This was done, and DiMaggio came up with a runner on second and two out . Joe swung on the first pitch and lined it viciously into left for a double. Game No. 38.

You should have heard the roar of that as crowd! You should have witnessed the scene in front of the Yankee dugout! It was more exciting even than Babe Ruth's sixtieth home run when he set the all-time record in l927.

Joe put the clincher on the record in the double-header in Washington, June 29, doubling in the first game to tie Sisler's modern mark and moving his own record to 42 with a clean single in the second tilt.

DiMaggio's batting streak certainly captured the fans and fired their imaginations. Joe always is skillful and colorful. Dramatize a player like that with a streak like his and you have the superb, turnstile-clicking, electrifying situation.

The day DiMaggio hit Auker belatedly, Marius Russo was pitching a one-hitter. Tom Henrich's home run had stretched the club's circuit spree to 35 in 21 straight games -- a feat undreamed of even in the Ruth and Gehrig heyday. But the crowd virtually ignored the Russo feat, and took the Henrich homer for granted. The hero was DiMaggio.

Batting streaks always have intrigued the customers. They first became conscious of such feats in 1894, when Bill Dahlen, shortstop with the Chicago Nationals, hung up a record of 42 straight games.

This was not touched until 1897, when Wee Willie Keeler -- the master scientist who hit them where they weren't -- established the present major league record of 44 games.

From July 27 through September 17, 1922, Sisler made the American League mark of 41 games. That same year, Rogers Hornsby, then with the Cardinals, turned in the best streak of the National League, 33 games.

Until DiMaggio came along this season, Hornsby's record was tops for a righthanded hitter.

[DiMag4Life]

------Sliding Home-------

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--------DiMaggio & Williams---------

[SHOELESSJOE3]

------Sliding Home-------

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--------DiMaggio & Williams---------

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Seen a number of Joe's slides over the years, great. Some of the best fade away and hook slides, excellent base runner, great instinct on the bases.
Just watched a video of Joe's slide in that 1940 WS game with a dazed catcher Ernie Lombardi lunging to tag Joe but he was safe. Coming down the inside of the third base line with a great slide. the only way he could be safe to slide far to the inside of the base line and just touching the base with the tip of his spikes, no other way he could have made it.

Ted Williams once commenting on Joe who he called one of the best, smartest base runners. On a number of plays Ted saying to himself as Joe was stretching out a hit, "where is he going" and then to his surprise seeing Joe just make that extra base.