Joe Dimaggio's Privacy

Joe DiMaggio was a baseball player. He wasn't the greatest baseball player of all time, but he did pretty well. He was "the most celebrated athlete of his age, the best big game player of his era, and a baseball player who transcended the barriers of sports in terms of the breadth of his fame." Yet, he wasn't, by his own admission, a great man. He was ".just a man trying to get along."

Fans Could Get to See DiMaggio at the Ballpark, in a Newsreel, or at a Restaurant

Joe DiMaggio joined the New York Yankees in 1936. It was a world that was very different from the ones that DiMaggio would occupy in his ensuing years. When Dimaggio was a rookie, the only time fans could see him would be at the ballpark, in a movie newsreel, or if they were fortunate, in a restaurant or similar public place.

Newspapers Were the Primary Source of Information About Baseball Players

There was little baseball coverage on radio in 1936, and television was not yet significant, which meant that the fans' only source of information was newspapers. The lives of the baseball players and the writers who covered them were interwoven, since travel by train, not plane, created situations in which avoidance was difficult, if not impossible.

Sports Writing Was Different When Joe DiMaggio Played

Sports writing style and objectives were different in the 1930s and 1940s from what they are today. The general attitude during most of Joe DiMaggio's career was heroic coverage with no attempts at reporting personal information of any significance. Players trusted writers much more than today's players trust the media, especially considering the tabloid mentality of most modern writers who "report" about modern athletes.

The "Chipmunk" Approach to Reporting

The players of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s escaped the "chipmunk" approach followed by Leonard Schecter of the New York Post and emulated by many who followed, such as Dick Schaap and Mike Lupica. They were designated "chipmunks" by veteran sportswriter Milton Gross because Shector's approach to an interview was analogous to a "chipmunk, digging for nuts."

Talese Wanted to Reveal the Private Joe DiMaggio

Eventually, Joe DiMaggio became a victim of the new approach to sports writing. One of the first attempts to discover the "real" Yankee Clipper was made by Gay Talese, who wanted to ".strip away the façade with which most celebrities protected themselves." Talese wanted to create a picture of Joe DiMaggio that revealed the private Joe DiMaggio and he succeeded, despite the fact that he was unable to interview DiMaggio at length.

Writers Interpreted Information

In attempting to show "Joe DiMaggio, the person," writers such as Talese and Richard Ben Cramer have presented information and then have interpreted that information for the reader. One reviewer of Cramer's A Hero's Life makes the significant point that, since DiMaggio wasn't the type who revealed his thoughts, a lot of guesswork is implied. How did anyone but DiMaggio know what DiMaggio was doing when he was alone?

Did People Care What DiMaggio Did After the Game?

When Joe DiMaggio played baseball, did people care what he was going to do that night? Did they care what he did that morning? They did not. All that was important was what Joe DiMaggio did during the game. And that is as it should be.

Joe DiMaggio became an unwilling role model. It was not a role he asked for or was it a role at which he attempted to succeed. He did not have to be nor did he want to be a role model for your child. You have that responsibility. The role of a baseball player is to be a baseball player. What he does before or after a game or during the off season is nobody's concern but his own. Joe DiMaggio wanted something that is becoming increasingly more difficult to get. He simply wanted privacy.

References:

Halberstam, David, ed., The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.

Maury Allen On Baseball Writers

Cramer and DiMaggio

A Hero's Life Reviewed