Comments on: The Selling of Joe DiMaggio

By: zff4

zff4 — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:25:34 +0000

Paraphrasing from memory, “Not olive oil or smelly grease but it’s water that Joe uses to slick his hair back. And he prefers chicken chow mein to spaghetti.” (this from Life magazine)

He was just “the Daig” to quite a few people even after he became an icon. God help you if you were black but being Italian wasn’t exactly a free pass. He indeed turned into a pompous jerk, but being idolized by the entire city of NY doesn’t often make angels…but he was golden on the field.

By: quixoteswhore

quixoteswhore — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:43:34 +0000

Joltin Joe’s distinguished 56 hit streak does not include the number of times he hit Marilyn, does it? (Parenthetically, Monroe died the day Roger Clemens was born.)

By: purdueman

purdueman — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:56:32 +0000

Di Maggio isn’t by far the “greatest baseball player ever”; if you don’t believe me (although I’ll stick with Babe Ruth as the man who is the greatest ever because he made baseball nationally relevant, with Jackie Robinson, who saved the game (long term), by finally breaking the color barrier, coming in right behind him… 1a and 1b if you will), just compare Di Maggio’s career stats with his career contemporary Ted Williams.

Due to all of the media adulation that came with playing in New York (where they had 18 daily newspapers back in Di Maggio’s playing days), Di Maggio became a reclusive and very pompous ass. Di Maggio truly believed right up until the day he died that he was bigger than life, yet if I wanted to, I could take a wiz on him where he’s planted in a San Francisco graveyard and there isn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

It’s just sad how the media can change and destroy people, but it’s also reality. The moron from France who just got caught allegedly forcing a maid to give him a blow job for example just blew his chance to become the head of a country (France). Regardless of whether the allegations are proved to be true or not, the media has already cooked his French goose long before his trial ever begins.

By: minnesconsin

minnesconsin — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:49:05 +0000

I’m curious how Morris Engelberg fits into all of this. Engelberg was DiMaggio’s friend and lawyer, and is actually the executor of his estate. In the past, he’s been very difficult to work with and has object to the use of ANY photos of DiMaggio and Monroe in a commercial fashion. I believe the only “famliy” in DiMag’s will were his 2 grand-daughters who are not blood relation.

see
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/10/12/2010-10-12_attorney_engelberg_blocks_yale_publishers_use_of_joe_dimaggio_and_marilyn_monroe.html

http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/2000/10/25/cramer/

By: frankvzappa

frankvzappa — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:55:25 +0000

the great visionary Bill Hicks and the great game of baseball in one article: all seems suddenly right with the world, if only for a short time

By: Panda Claus

Panda Claus — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:07:56 +0000

Craig, since you first mentioned that one story about two months ago, Pete Rose and Joltin’ Joe will forever be linked (in my mind, at least).

By: Jeremiah Graves

Jeremiah Graves — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:43:46 +0000

If the people from Maker’s Mark asked me to do just about anything, I’d sign off on it. I owe those cats for getting me through many a stressful work week.

…and/or routine Tuesday night.

By: yankeesfanlen

yankeesfanlen — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:34:00 +0000

DiMaggio didn’t have many qualms about endorsements while playing- the eclectric assortment went from Wheaties to Chesterfields. Guess he wanted to diversify.
Joltin’ Joe’s big disappointment after ending the 56-game hitting streak was that he hadn’t made it to his biggest payout- Heinz.

([OK, that was contigent on making it to 57]

By: vintage1496

vintage1496 — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:31:10 +0000

As both a fan of the Yankee Clipper and a marketer, I think your critique is spot-on. However, this is more or less the quintessence of advertising – ignoring the bad (spotty military service record, lack of humility) and highlighting the good (… umm… he play ball good?).

By: Charles Gates

Charles Gates — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:22:33 +0000

They’re marketing the marketing. That’s it. Not that they’re doing a great job of it, but I think they’re trying to get in front of any negative PR related to marketing the image of a dead man (obviously) without his say so.