Tales of the Yankee Clipper: Stories and Reflections on Joe DiMaggio by Jonathan Weeks Book Tour with Guest Post and giveaway

 

TALES OF THE YANKEE CLIPPER

by Jonathan Weeks

 

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GENRE:  NonFiction Sports Biography

 

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BLURB:

 

There has probably never been a professional baseball player more of a puzzle than Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio had a talent for keeping his emotions suppressed and his innermost thoughts to himself. Few could say that they really knew him. And even the ones who did found him to be unpredictable. He was a walking contradiction. He was quiet, but not necessarily shy. He could be both gracious and abrupt, approachable or aloof depending on the situation. Although he came across as humble, he had a tremendous sense of entitlement. He was complex, secretive, inscrutable. There were many layers to the man who came to be affectionately known as the “Yankee Clipper.” DiMaggio always felt that his actions on the field should do the talking for him. And for the most part, they did. To many, DiMaggio personified elegance, style, and grace. An impeccable dresser, he was married to two glamorous actresses. On the field, he glided almost effortlessly, never having to dive for a ball and rarely (if ever) making a mistake on the basepaths. He became the living embodiment of the American dream and a symbol of the country’s so-called “greatest generation.” But as time marched on, DiMaggio grew increasingly distrustful of the people around him. It was understandable—inevitable even. The third book in Jonathan Week’s Yankees trilogy contains an abundance of anecdotes, statistics, and other little known facts about the Yankee Clipper.

 

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EXCERPT

THE MEANING BEHIND MRS. ROBINSON

 

Among the most popular folk-rock duos of the 1960s, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel began writing songs together when they were in grade school. By the time they embarked upon solo careers during the 1970s, they had won ten Grammy Awards. Some of their highest charting hits included “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Sound of Silence,” and “Mrs. Robinson.”  The latter song, which contains multiple lines about Joe DiMaggio, deeply offended the Yankee idol until he understood the meaning of the lyrics.

 

Released in 1968, “Mrs. Robinson” was written in reference to Eleanor Roosevelt, who Simon greatly admired. The tune was actually entitled “Mrs. Roosevelt” until the popular duo changed the name to make it fit the Academy Award-winning movie it was being featured in (The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft). “Mrs. Robinson” was a smash hit for Simon and Garfunkel, peaking at number-one on the Billboard charts and remaining there for several weeks. The four-minute musical masterpiece, which is about better days gone by, suggests that DiMaggio faded from the spotlight at a time when the American public needed him most. When the retired Yankee slugger heard about the lyrics, he believed that Simon was making him out to be some sort of deadbeat and threatened to sue.

 

As fate would have it, the two American icons had a chance encounter in Lattanzi’s restaurant on West 46th Street in New York. Simon, who was a lifelong Yankee fan, had heard about Joe’s beef with the song. Upon spotting the legendary Hall of Famer at a nearby table, he worked up the courage to say ‘hello.’ DiMaggio invited him to sit down and immediately started talking about Simon’s lyrics.

 

“What I don’t understand,” said Joe, “is why you ask where I’ve gone. I just did a Mr. Coffee commercial. I’m a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank and I haven’t gone anywhere.”

 

“I don’t mean it that way,” Simon explained. “I mean, where are these great heroes now?”

 

When DiMaggio realized that Simon considered him a hero and that the song was actually about how much he meant to people, he was flattered. The two shook hands and remained in each other’s good graces from that day forward. Interestingly, Simon was forced to explain himself to Mickey Mantle while taping an episode of The Dick Cavett Show. Mantle, who was actually Simon’s favorite player while growing up, asked the singer why he hadn’t used his name in place of DiMaggio’s. Simon explained that Mickey’s name had the wrong number of syllables.

 

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INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DIMAGGIO’S

56-GAME HITTING STREAK

In 1941, Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games—a record that has stood the test of time. After the streak continued for more than a month, fans from all over the nation began rooting for the Yankee slugger. “It kind of took on a life of its own,” DiMaggio recalled decades later. “I think people really took an interest because they needed a distraction from the war raging in Europe. As the streak evolved, I felt additional pressure, but I also felt more and more people pulling for me. Even fans from other teams seemed to want to see me get a hit to keep it going.” There are many who believe that DiMaggio’s remarkable achievement will never be equaled. Here are some interesting facts about it. 

--The streak began on May 15 in a 13-1 loss to the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.

--DiMaggio compiled a .408 average with 91 hits in 223 at-bats during the streak.

--Prior to the streak, DiMaggio’s cumulative batting average was .304. On the day the streak ended, he was hitting .375.

--DiMaggio faced four Hall of Fame pitchers during the streak.

--The All-Star Game took place during the Streak. Joe hit safely in that game as well (going 1-for-4) although it didn’t count toward his total. Joe and his brother Dominic were the first set of big league siblings to play in the same All-Star Game.

--DiMaggio extended the streak in his final at-bat of the day ten times.

--The Yankees went 41-13-2 during DiMaggio’s streak. They were five and a half games out of first place when it began. When it ended, they were sitting in first place with a six-game lead.

--Before DiMaggio, the longest major-league hitting streak ever assembled belonged to Willie Keeler, who hit in 44 straight games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1897. In Keeler’s era, foul balls were not yet counted as strikes.

--The longest hitting streak since DiMaggio’s was assembled by Pete Rose of the Reds. He tied Keeler’s old record of 44 in 1978.

--DiMaggio broke Keeler’s record in style, drilling a 2-run homer off of Red Sox ace Dick Newsome.

--DiMaggio hit safely in 16 straight games after his 56-game streak ended. Had third baseman Ken Keltner of the Indians not robbed DiMaggio of what could have been a pair of doubles on July 17, the streak could have been extended to 73 games!

--Prior to DiMaggio, the longest hitting streak by a Yankee was 33 games, which was accomplished by first baseman Hal Chase in 1907.

--DiMaggio faced St. Louis pitcher Bob Muncrief several times during the streak. The right-handed moundsman could have prematurely ended Joe’s skein one afternoon had he chosen to intentionally walk the Yankee slugger in his final at-bat. Muncrief opted to face DiMaggio instead, giving up a hit. Asked about the decision after the game, the hurler replied, “That wouldn’t have been fair—to him or to me. He’s the greatest player I ever saw.”

--DiMaggio was named AL MVP at season’s end. He won the award in spite of Ted Williams’ .406 batting average and 69 game on-base streak.

--According to multiple sources, DiMaggio lost out on a lucrative endorsement deal with Heinz 57 Ketchup when his streak ended at 56.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Jonathan Weeks has written several sports biographies and two novels, one of which was a posthumous collaboration with his father. He grew up in the Capital District region of New York State and currently works in the mental health field.

 

BLOG: http://www.jonathanweeks.blogspot.com

GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/5862273.Jonathan_Weeks

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Yankee-Clipper-Reflections-DiMaggio-ebook/dp/B0CKBLVMM5/ref=sr_1_1

 

 

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Jonathan Weeks will award a randomly drawn winner a $25 Amazon/BN gift card.

 

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