Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 325

center, would have been a home run in the Yankees' current ballpark. DiMaggio hit 148 home runs in 3,360 at bats at home versus 213 home runs in 3,461 at on the road. His slugging percentage at home was .546, and on the road, it was .610.

DiMaggio told “Baseball Digest” in 1963 that the Brooklyn Dodgers had offered him their managerial job in 1953, but he turned it down. After being out of baseball since his retirement as an active player, DiMaggio joined the newly relocated Oakland Athletics as a vice president in 1968 and 1969 and a coach in just the first of those two seasons. The appointment allowed him

to qualify for MLB's maximum pension allowance of which he had fallen two years short upon his retirement. During his only campaign as a coach, he helped improve the talents of players such as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, and Joe Rudi who became part of the team's nucleus when it won three consecutive World Series from 1972 to 1974.

DiMaggio's was relaxed about his 56 game hitting streak in 1941. Initially, DiMaggio showed little interest in breaking Sisler's record, saying; "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it. I'll either break it or I won't." As he approached Sisler's record, DiMaggio showed more interest, saying; "At the start, I didn't

think much about it. But naturally I'd like to get the record since I am this close." On June 29, 1941, DiMaggio doubled in