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The DiMaggio Brothers Photo Gallery
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The DiMaggio Brothers:
Which of the Three Was Ultimately the Most Successful In life?
Bill Gutman’s recent post on Ray Boone and the three baseball generations of the Boone family started me thinking of other baseball relations. I thought this might be a good time to say few words about the three DiMaggio brothers, arguably the most successful set of brothers in baseball history.
More than 350 sets of brothers have played in the major leagues, but the only three brothers to have been All-Stars are the DiMaggio’s, with a total of 18 selections: Oldest brother Vince DiMaggio had two All-Star selections; Joe had nine; while youngest brother Dom was a seven-time All-Star.
In the neat featured photo, we see the three DiMaggio brothers at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles for a 1956 Pacific Coast League Old-Timers’ game.
That Joe DiMaggio was one of the greatest ballplayers of all time, hitting .325 in a 13-year career, is hardly in dispute. But what a shadow he cast over his two brothers!
During a respectable ten-year career in which he batted .246 with 125 home runs, and 584 RBIs, little-known Vince played for the Bees, Reds, Pirates, Phillies, and Giants. He was noted for his speed, occasional power, and outstanding defense. Vince’s weakness was strikeouts, and he led the league six times in that category. Vince had a nice season in 1941 when he hit 21 home runs and drove in 100 for the Pirates. But did anybody notice? That happened to be the year of one of baseball’s most celebrated records: brother Joe DiMaggio’s famous 56-game hitting streak.
Bespeckled Dom DiMaggio, nicknamed “The Little Professor,” was the youngest of the three and was a stalwart in center field for the Red Sox for more than a decade. Over his career, he hit .298, with 87 home runs, 618 RBIs, 1046 runs, 100 stolen bases, and a .383 on-base percentage. Again, not Joe DiMaggio numbers, but an excellent career nonetheless.
Dom twice led the American League in runs, once in stolen bases, and once in triples. An excellent defensive center fielder with an outstanding arm, he also led the league many times in numerous defensive categories. Speaking of hitting streaks, how many fans know that Dom still holds the Red Sox record with a 34-game streak set in 1949? Dom might have joined Joe in the Hall of Fame if he hadn’t lost three full seasons to military service during World War II.
A few years ago, I wrote an essay about the DiMaggio brothers, so I thought I’d share a few excerpts, with the spotlight especially on the overlooked Vince:
Vince and Dom DiMaggio were largely overshadowed by their famous brother. After all, what more can be said about “Joltin’ Joe” DiMaggio—the great Yankee Clipper—that hasn’t already been said? That he was one of the greatest ballplayers of all time is hardly in dispute. How many baseball fans even know that Joe DiMaggio had an older brother Vince who played ten years in the major leagues and was in the top-10 in home runs in the National League six times? In 1941 Vince hit a career-high 21 homers and 100 RBI, and he was a National League All-Star each of the next two seasons. The Phillies then acquired him for the 1945 season. Vince responded with 19 homers and 84 RBI at age 32. He still holds the Phillies record for grand-slam home runs in a season with four.
After baseball, Vince – without the benefit of lucrative endorsements and speaking engagements that came to his famous brother – took on a number of odd jobs: bartender, liquor salesman, carpenter, and finally Fuller Brush salesman. He spent his spare time fishing, gardening, and studying the Bible. He was said to have found “inner peace” later in life, and his only disappointment was, except for an occasional phone call, he had lost touch with his brother Joe.
Vince had once joked that ‘If I could hit like Joe and he could talk like me, we’d make a helluva guy.’ Vince once said of him:
“Joe’s always been a loner and he always will be. When the folks were alive we were a lot closer. It’s only a shame that we have gone such different ways. That’s real sad. Family should stick together.”
Actually it may have been even worse than that. According to Joe DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer, Joe “didn’t deal with Vince at all,” never maintaining any meaningful relationship with him.
Although surpassed on the playing field by their Hall-of-Fame brother, both Vince and Dom far outshined him in an area of much greater significance: family, with both enjoying long successful marriages with loving wives and loving children. Quite different post-baseball lives from their reclusive brother Joe’s life of loneliness, Hollywood glitter, multiple broken marriages, and estranged children.
Vince died at his home in 1986 at age 74, survived by Madelaine – his loving wife of more than fifty years – and two children. Likewise, Dom, who became extremely successful in business following his baseball career, died in 2009, aged 92, survived by Emily, his loving wife of 61 years, and their three children.
So ultimately the question becomes: Which of the DiMaggio brothers was the most successful? I’ll leave the answer for you to ponder…
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