Joe DiMaggio Biography

1914-1999

American baseball player

One of the greatest of all baseball players, Joe DiMaggio played the game with grace (one of his nicknames was the Yankee Clipper), power (the other nickname was Joltin' Joe), and an all-around level of skill that few others have approached. His talent, combined with his desire to win and his team's sustained success, led to him become an icon of popular culture—the man who was considered baseball's greatest living player after his retirement.

The son of Sicilian immigrant parents, Joseph Paul DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, a tiny East Bay village, on November 25, 1914. Named for his father, Giuseppe, he was the eighth of nine children. Not long after DiMaggio's birth the family moved to San Francisco where Giuseppe continued to ply his trade as a fisherman. DiMaggio grew up in the Italian neighborhood of North Beach, not far from Fisherman's Wharf where his father docked his boat. He attended public schools until age 16 whereupon he dropped out of Gallileo High School. By then he was already showing prowess as a baseball player as had his older brother, Vince. In fact, the last three DiMaggio siblings—Vince, Joe, and Dominic—would all become major league baseball players.