Dimaggio's Best Season?

[SHOELESSJOE3]

I have seen guestimates that had he not missed the 3 war years and had he played in a park that was neutral to right handed hitters he might have just edged Foxx for second place on the all time home run list for at least a time. Maybe that was a stretch, but doubling his road home runs would have given him 426 (even though most players hit about 6% more home runs at home than on the road) and that would have required just 25 for each of the 3 missed years to get past 500. Also there have been suggestions that he played poorly in '42 because he was stressed out about the war, and that he was mentally burned out when he returned.

His road rates of .333/.405/.610 really put him in a different category than his true career rates. With a normal home boost we would have about .340/.413/.628 TOTAL rates for both home and road and that would have been a 171 OPS+, or another way of saying it, his road OPS+ WAS 171 relative to all players on the road during his career.

It was much more than the war. Marital problems, split with wife.

Also and one of the biggest reasons. His Italian parents were required to carry ID, considered "potential enemy agents.".
One of his fathers fishing vessels was confiscated. His fathers home and boats were searched for flashlights and any type of radio transmitters which the government thought could be used to send messages to enemy ships. He was not allowed to have flashlights on his boats and was restricted, limited to fishing a short distance from shore.

Joe's dad was also limited as to how far he could travel from home, I believe 5 miles. This meant he could not even travel to Joe's restaraunt.
Joe's 1942 season not a mystery, he had lots of thing to think about, even when on the field.

[JR Hart]

Great to see Joe D getting respect here. The guy played 13 years and got 9 rings, and was the centerpiece of those teams.

Not only did he miss time due to the war, but he was held back in the PCL, when he was obviously big league ready.

He was a fabulous player and belongs among the very elite in baseball history. He was also incredibly famous, as attested to his being named as the greatest living player for the baseball centenial in 1969. He beat out Mays, Musial, Williams, Mantle, and Aaron. Whether you agree with that or not, he was obviously highly regarded.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

It was much more than the war. Marital problems, split with wife.

Also and one of the biggest reasons. His Italian parents were required to carry ID, considered "potential enemy agents.".
One of his fathers fishing vessels was confiscated. His fathers home and boats were searched for flashlights and any type of radio transmitters which the government thought could be used to send messages to enemy ships. He was not allowed to have flashlights on his boats and was restricted, limited to fishing a short distance from shore.

Joe's dad was also limited as to how far he could travel from home, I believe 5 miles. This meant he could not even travel to Joe's restaraunt.
Joe's 1942 season not a mystery, he had lots of thing to think about, even when on the field.

Was his father ever detained even for just a few days? I always found that odd that they would treat a American hero like Dimaggio's parents like that.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Was his father ever detained even for just a few days? I always found that odd that they would treat a American hero like Dimaggio's parents like that.

I thought I read some where that he was detained. Possible it was meant he had to report some where to register. I don't think he was detained for more than a few hours.

[brett]

Some points looking at just his road splits:
In 1937 he slugged .711 with 224 total bases and 87 RBI on the road. Given a normal home edge he would have gone about .732 with a record 460 total bases and 183 RBI

In 1939 he went .413/.486/.769 on the road and had 76 RBI in 56 road games. Again with a normal home edge and neutral park that would be .421/.496/.792 nearly a record avg, and nearly a 1300 OPS and a predicted 84 RBI in 56 for just under 1.5 per game! Granted all players have variations and he had some more normal splits but:

Here are a few road relative road OPS+'s

1937: 190
1939: 227
1941: 216

(also grant however that he didn't have to face his own pitching staff which accounts for about 3% on those OPS+'s).

[pheasant]

Some points looking at just his road splits:
In 1937 he slugged .711 with 224 total bases and 87 RBI on the road. Given a normal home edge he would have gone about .732 with a record 460 total bases and 183 RBI

In 1939 he went .413/.486/.769 on the road and had 76 RBI in 56 road games. Again with a normal home edge and neutral park that would be .421/.496/.792 nearly a record avg, and nearly a 1300 OPS and a predicted 84 RBI in 56 for just under 1.5 per game! Granted all players have variations and he had some more normal splits but:

Here are a few road relative road OPS+'s

1937: 190
1939: 227
1941: 216

(also grant however that he didn't have to face his own pitching staff which accounts for about 3% on those OPS+'s).

Perhaps only Barry Bonds in the early 2000s beats his peak road OPS+. Maybe Ruth's 1918-1919 and Gehrig's 1930 road stats come close.

[JR Hart]

Wow awesome

Yes, DiMaggio played in a horriffic park for right handed hitters. On the ESPN forum the nerds there downgraded him out their top players. Yes Joe D!! Good to see him get some some love here . Joe D is an all-time great!!

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Wow awesome

Yes, DiMaggio played in a horriffic park for right handed hitters. On the ESPN forum the nerds there downgraded him out their top players. Yes Joe D!! Good to see him get some some love here . Joe D is an all-time great!!

I've never gone to the ESPN forum but why did they say he wasn't a alltime great?

[JR Hart]

I've never gone to the ESPN forum but why did they say he wasn't a alltime great?

Too much Bill James. DiMaggio didn't walk enough for these losers. He also didn't play long enough. These morons don't know that he was held back in the PCL (unlike Williams) and not allowed to go to the majors at an early age. Oh yeah, and he couldn't control Hitler.

I actually saw top 25-30 lists without DiMaggio. Without Joe freaking DiMaggio!!! They valued Darrell Evans and Ferriss Fain over DiMaggio because they got on base so much. I have baseball friends who don't post on the internet and I'd tell them of the downgrading of Joe D and we'd laugh and laugh.

Joe DiMaggio was a non-parallel player and a baseball icon. It's good to see knowledgable fans herse, who look at ALL the ways to rate players, especially road/home stats.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Too much Bill James. DiMaggio didn't walk enough for these losers. He also didn't play long enough. These morons don't know that he was held back in the PCL (unlike Williams) and not allowed to go to the majors at an early age. Oh yeah, and he couldn't control Hitler.

I actually saw top 25-30 lists without DiMaggio. Without Joe freaking DiMaggio!!! They valued Darrell Evans and Ferriss Fain over DiMaggio because they got on base so much. I have baseball friends who don't post on the internet and I'd tell them of the downgrading of Joe D and we'd laugh and laugh.

Joe DiMaggio was a non-parallel player and a baseball icon. It's good to see knowledgable fans herse, who look at ALL the ways to rate players, especially road/home stats.

Jeez it would be interesting to see a Fans top 20 list over there. I think the top 20 here is pretty accurate.

[GiambiJuice]

Too much Bill James. DiMaggio didn't walk enough for these losers. He also didn't play long enough. These morons don't know that he was held back in the PCL (unlike Williams) and not allowed to go to the majors at an early age. Oh yeah, and he couldn't control Hitler.

I actually saw top 25-30 lists without DiMaggio. Without Joe freaking DiMaggio!!! They valued Darrell Evans and Ferriss Fain over DiMaggio because they got on base so much. I have baseball friends who don't post on the internet and I'd tell them of the downgrading of Joe D and we'd laugh and laugh.

Joe DiMaggio was a non-parallel player and a baseball icon. It's good to see knowledgable fans herse, who look at ALL the ways to rate players, especially road/home stats.

I'm a bit skeptical. Even the biggest "Sabr-nerd" in the world, bending and twisting the most advanced metrics available, couldn't POSSIBLY rank Darrell Evans over Joe Dimaggio! That's insane.

[EdTarbusz]

Too much Bill James. DiMaggio didn't walk enough for these losers. He also didn't play long enough. These morons don't know that he was held back in the PCL (unlike Williams) and not allowed to go to the majors at an early age. Oh yeah, and he couldn't control Hitler.

.

DiMaggio wasn't held back in the PCL. The Seals waited until they got the best deal for him. They weren't anyone's farm team in that era.

I doubt if DiMaggio was being paid to walk while with the Yankees. Too many walks from him would have probably resulted in a pay cut. He was being paid to hit the ball.

[Seels]

Too much Bill James. DiMaggio didn't walk enough for these losers. He also didn't play long enough. These morons don't know that he was held back in the PCL (unlike Williams) and not allowed to go to the majors at an early age. Oh yeah, and he couldn't control Hitler.

I actually saw top 25-30 lists without DiMaggio. Without Joe freaking DiMaggio!!! They valued Darrell Evans and Ferriss Fain over DiMaggio because they got on base so much. I have baseball friends who don't post on the internet and I'd tell them of the downgrading of Joe D and we'd laugh and laugh.

Joe DiMaggio was a non-parallel player and a baseball icon. It's good to see knowledgable fans herse, who look at ALL the ways to rate players, especially road/home stats.

You couldn't be more full of it if you tried. I really don't know why you exaggerate so much to prove your point, it just makes you look even more absurd to those who know better. No one ranks Evans or Fain over DiMaggio and you know that, you're just being difficult for the sake of it. There's a difference between not thinking DiMaggio is as good as Mantle or Williams (which he isn't) and thinking he's not as good as Evans or Fain; I don't know why you can't make this distinction.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

DiMaggio wasn't held back in the PCL. The Seals waited until they got the best deal for him. They weren't anyone's farm team in that era.

I doubt if DiMaggio was being paid to walk while with the Yankees. Too many walks from him would have probably resulted in a pay cut. He was being paid to hit the ball.

I don't even see any issue there, that he was paid or even "expected to" do anything, walk or hit.
It was just Joe doing what he did, that was his style of hitting.

[pheasant]

I did some digging here. I can't confirm this, but I believe Dimaggio is one of only 5 players in MLB history to post a 1.200 OPS on the road for a season.

Here's the list of 1.200 OPS seasons on the road that I came up with:

J Dimaggio 1939 1.255
T Williams 1941 1.228
T Williams 1957 1.318
Ba. Bonds 1993 1.247
Ba. Bonds 2001 1.332
Ba. Bonds 2002 1.438
Ba. Bonds 2004 1.252
Lou Gehrig 1927 1.296
Lou Gehrig 1930 1.289
Lou Gehrig 1932 1.208
Babe Ruth 1920 1.260
Babe Ruth 1921 1.251
Babe Ruth 1923 1.255
Babe Ruth 1924 1.237
Babe Ruth 1926 1.267
Babe Ruth 1927 1.249
Babe Ruth 1931 1.238
Babe Ruth 1932 1.217