Joe DiMaggio
... history. Joseph Paul DiMaggio Jr., was born November 25, 1914 in Martinez, California as Guiseppi Paolo DiMaggio to Italian Immigrants who moved to North Beach, the heavily Italian section near San Francisco. DiMaggio was playing professionally at the young age of 17, for the San Francisco Seals. In 1936, he signed with the Yankees. DiMaggio played for the New York Yankees from 1936 until 1951. Babe Ruth started the tradition of wining, but DiMaggio, with his high standards and leadership, took his New York Yankees team to the World Series ten times, leading them to nine championships. In between those years he three seasons off to go to war. He won the most valuable player (MVP) in 1939, 1941 and 1947. His lifetime batting average was .325 and he hit 361 home runs in his career. He was at bat 6,821 times and only struck out 369 times, a remarkably low number for any hard-hitting slugger. He also hit 131 triples, 389 doubles, and was involved in 4,529 put outs in the outfield. In 1955 DiM...