Joe Dimaggio: Trivia And At Least A Few Facts About Him You Didn't Know
By | March 5, 2020
Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe kiss following their marriage ceremony in a judge's chambers in San Francisco, California, January 14, 1954. Credit: Bettman / Contributor via Getty Images
Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper -- the facts of his New York Yankees baseball career are well known. Simply, he was one of the best to play the game. But what about the man, Joe DiMaggio, New York man about town, Marilyn Monroe's husband, the son of immigrant fisherman from the opposite coast? Here's some trivia about Joe DiMaggio you might not know.
They looked the part but the couple was never meant to be (thrillist)
Joe DiMaggio stands in a long line of Yankee greats alongside Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and many many more. During his time as a Yankee legend, all doors in glitzy and glamorous New York City were open to him. Despite the red carpet welcome wherever DiMaggio went, Joe lived a simple life. He just wanted to play baseball and live the happy married domestic life with Marilyn Monroe. Here’s everything you didn’t know about The Yankee Clipper.
DiMaggio Was Born Into Fishing
Joe served his country by playing baseball and lifting moral (thisgreatgame)
Despite becoming one of the greatest ballplayers for the most storied franchise in American professional sports, DiMaggio’s beginnings were anything but glamorous. He grew up poor in San Francisco to a family of immigrant fishermen. His father greatly desired that his sons follow in his footsteps but a defining characteristic of DiMaggio was his unrelenting stubbornness. He dropped out of high school to concentrate on baseball and his bet paid off in the biggest way.
Joe DiMaggio Was A Dog And He Married A Cat
They loved each other but were simply very different people (home.bt)
Perhaps one of the most famous unions in American history was between DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, for the couple, two more different people couldn’t have been made in a lab.
DiMaggio wanted to turn the most stunning celebrity in American history into a housewife. That's right, Marilyn Monroe, a housewife. And that stunning celebrity wanted nothing to do with it. Despite the topsy turvy marriage, they always held a candle for each other and continued “seeing” each other long after their marriage dissolved. He sent roses to her headstone twice a week every week until the day he died. His final words were “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn.”
Most people don’t know that Joltin’ Joe was previously married to another actress, Dorothy Arnold. Some say that Dimaggio even tried to win her back after their divorce in ‘44 but Arnold had already remarried.
DiMaggio Could Never Shake His Humble Roots
Mantle and DiMaggio were both infamously tight with money (tonycastro)
DiMaggio grew up poor and could never forget it. Another less tactful way to put it: he was cheap. His engagement ring for Dorothy Arnold was a four and one-half carat, emerald cut diamond bought by Newark crime boss, Ruggiero “Richie the Boot” Bojardo.
His garage was full of golf clubs given to him by various sponsors for celebrity charity tournaments. He gave away a few as birthday and Christmas presents to friends. DiMaggio didn’t like using the air conditioning in the Mercedes Benz the Yankees gave him and never took it to the car wash. According to his lawyer and confidant Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio’s fridge was full of doggie bags from restaurants and he’d raid the cookie supply from airline lounges while traveling. Like most people, DiMaggio loved getting things for free.
Dimaggio Held Grudges Better Than Anyone
Holding grudges takes persistence just like a 55 game hit streak (oilandgas360)
DiMaggio’s 55 game hit streak is one of the all-time untouchable records in sports. But his record of holding grudges was almost as impressive. He refused to shake President Clinton’s hand in Camden Yards in 1995 after the Lewinsky scandal although it appears he hated President Clinton from the start.
People in his presence could not discuss the Kennedys or Sinatra. He blamed the Kennedys for Marilyn Monroe’s drug and alcohol addiction and blamed Frank Sinatra for introducing Monroe to the Kennedys. If he felt you wronged him in any way, you were dead to him and when it came to Joe D, the dead stayed dead.
