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Stan
Isaacs Out of Left Field |
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Cramer's New Book Probably GEts It Right |
This was a man you just didn't get close to without his permission
By
STAN ISAACS
of TheColumnists.com
Richard
Ben Cramer has just written a devastating book, already highly
publicized, about Joe DiMaggio. Subtitled "The Hero's Life"
it portrays DiMaggio as an aloof, lonely, self-centered, defensive
man obsessed with money.
This among many anecdotes underscores his description of DiMaggio:
A well-heeled admirer of DiMaggio staged an event in his honor
and gave him a luxury car. "It's a brand new Cadillac,"
he told DiMaggio. "I got it parked for you right outside."
Cramer writes, "DiMaggio then looked from the keys to Cappy
without a smile, without moving his head an extra inch. Joe said:
'Did you fill it up with gas?' "
A book like this usually inspires people who knew the subject
to respond with heat to refute the Dorian Gray-like picture painted
by the author. I covered baseball and was exposed a bit to DiMaggio
in those days; the little I knew about him reinforces rather
than refutes the image of this American hero.
DiMaggio was in his final years when I started covering baseball
for the Daily Compass, a short-lived New York paper that followed
in the wake of the respected PM. One day, after DiMaggio had
been involved in a significant play in a game, I went over to
his locker afterward to ask him about the play. He was cordial,
but non-commital, not particularly forthcoming with his answer.
As I walked away from DiMaggio one of the veteran newspapermen
who had been covering the Yankees for some time, intercepted
me. He said, "Stan, you don't go over to talk to Joe unless
he summons us. Then we all go over."
I was nonplussed. This contradicted any lessons about reporting
I had learned in Journalism 101. I realized there was no point
approaching DiMaggio anymore unless it was at his beckoning.
Many
years later, DiMaggio was invited to the Yankee spring training
camp at St. Petersburg as a sort of coach. This was a big deal
in its own right, more so because Marilyn Monroe was with him.
In any case there was a press conference the day of DiMaggio's
arrival. This time there was a different set of reporters, younger
ones not likely to pay homage to him. He was peppered with questions
about why had been so unavailable in his playing days. He seemed
somewhat contrite and explained that it was essentially because
he was shy.
In
later years I saw many instances of DiMaggio being quite cautious
with the media. I always had the feeling he was constantly on
guard for fear of being asked questions about Marilyn Monroe.
On another occasion I visited the home of Barry Halper, who had
the greatest private collection of baseball memorabilia, much
of it items from DiMaggio. Halper was also a minority stockholder
in the Yankees and one of DiMaggio's close friends at the time.
While I was there, DiMaggio called and Halper talked to him on
the phone about upcoming appearances at baseball signing shows.
Halper shook his head. "He won't go anywhere unless I assure
him that it is the right place for him. It's gotten so that I
am like an uncle to him. He hardly trusts anybody."
Halper told me about DiMaggio's sad personal life. He said, "Joe
doesn't have any dealings with his son. His kid once told him,
'You did a terrible thing to me. You gave me the name, Joe DiMaggio
Jr.' Joe, who is always status conscious, didn't like that two
of his grandaughters married blue collar guys. He would like
to dote on them, but they aren't close to him. He isn't close
to his brother Dominic either."
It was Halper who urged DiMaggio to bring a baseball with him
when he was invited to a Washington dinner honoring President
Reagan and Soviet Premier Gorbachev. DiMaggio came away from
the dinner with a no doubt valuable baseball autographed by the
two superpower leaders.
I learned that DiMaggio cut off relations with his loyal friend
shortly afterward because Halper had invited a reporter from
a small local paper in New Jersey to the house while DiMaggio
was there.
As loyal a DiMaggio fan as there was in those days was Mel Allen,
the revered Yankee broadcaster. Allen hung the name, "Yankee
Clipper,
"
after a huge seaplane of that time, on the ballplayer. He idolized
him as did teammates Phil Rizzuto,Yogi Berra and a legion of
fans through the years.
Allen had a close relationship with the outgoing Yankee, Tommy
Henrich. With DiMaggio the relationship was something close to
awe. "DiMag was more of a quiet leader," Allen said.
"Sometimes, when he wanted to be alone but not quite alone,
he would grab me for a cup of coffee. We might sit for three
hours and he might not say anything for an hour. You knew not
to start any conversation until he was ready."
An oddity about DiMaggio is that with all the acclaim for him
as one of the greatest ball players of all time, he was not voted
into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. For knowledgeable
baseball fans that would seem outrageous on the face of it. There
is an explanation, though, and it comes from Jack Lang, the baseball
reporter who counted Hall of Fame ballots for many years.
Lang said, "In those days players didn't have to wait until
five years after retirement to be eligible for the Hall of Fame.
There was some doubt about whether DiMaggio had retired when
he announced his retirement after the 1951 season. There was
some reason to believe he would be playing another year so some
people didn't think he was eligible."
The voting procedure wasn't as smooth and orderly as it should
have been. He finished eighth his first year of eligibility in
1953, and, astoundingly, didn't make it his second year when
he was fourth. Lang said, "People wanted the older players
to get in first in those days and people weren't so concerned
about a guy making it the first year he was eligible."
Until Ben Cramer along with this powerhouse book that was about
the only time DiMaggio didn't get the adoration he craved.
© 2000 by Stan Isaacs. Photo of Joe DiMaggio © UPI/Bettman
is courtesy of HBO.
Stan
Isaacs, former Newsday sports columnist, is a National Headliner
Award winner and one of America's top sportswriters.
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