Family: DiMaggio was watching his beloved Sox when he died
By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff
Though ill with pneumonia, Dom DiMaggio was doing something he loved -- watching the Red Sox play, and play well -- when he died this morning in his Marion home.
Son by his side, the former Red Sox center fielder was watching the replay of Thursday night's game, when his team scored 12 runs in the sixth inning en route to a 13-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
"I was there and we were watching it together," said his son Dominic Paul DiMaggio Jr. of Atkinson, N.H. "It was peaceful."
Mr. DiMaggio's children, gathered at their parents' home today, shared recollections of the family man who was as powerful a presence while helping his wife, Emily, raise their family in Wellesley as he was at bat and in the field for the Red Sox.
"As I was telling a friend of mine, in the course of civilization, he was in the 90th percentile," his son said.
Emily Colette DiMaggio of Wayland said her father "was such a great teacher of how to live a life, and to love and pass it on. He created a loving family and just gave us so much. We were just lucky."
She recalled that in Wellesley, neighborhood children flocked to the DiMaggio house because there always was extra equipment for games. One day when the children couldn't find a ball, she said, they went into Mr. DiMaggio's study and borrowed one covered with signatures -- a pennant ball, perhaps.
Upon arriving home in the evening, Mr. DiMaggio spied the ball, now sporting grass stains and smudged names, and asked, "What is this?"
"We told him we used it for the neighborhood ballgame with the kids," his daughter said. "We were waiting for the reaction, and he said, 'So, did you win?' That's who he was, an incredible dad."
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What a contrast to all the attention seeking sports stars of today. Dom DiMaggio and people like him put all the A Rods, Bonds and Clemens to shame.
I read David Halberstams book the Teammates. Its a classic.
May he rest in peace
I'm sorry for your loss but watching the Sox is the best way to have it.
My grandfather died right after Pedroia hit that lead-off home run in game 1 of the 2007 World Series. I wasn't with him in the hospital at the time, but it was relayed by the nurse that he was ecstatic with the outcome of the "shorty's" swing. Too bad he couldn't outlast the series.
God bless.
Dom - Today, the game does not have the wonderful human beings like you when you played. Rest in peace and God bless you.
Where have you gone, Dom DiMaggio
Red Sox nation turns its eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, baseball history?
Red Sox Dom has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)
(thanks Simon and Garfunkel for the appropriate RIP)
Where have you gone, Dom DiMaggio
Red Sox nation turns its eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, baseball history?
Red Sox Dom has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)
(thanks Simon and Garfunkel for the appropriate RIP)
First class man. I never knew how great a ballplayer he was.Mark Feeney has written one of the best articles I have read.Dom was a great leadoff hitter,superior centerfielder,incredible father and was very intelligent.I confess ignorance of all this until I read this article.We must save this paper.It's legacy to this team and this historic city is unfathomable,a literal red thread runs through it.Rest in peace Dom most beloved by family,friends and fans....Respectfully ....Steve Brown
This and that pathetic article are your obituaries for Dom DiMaggio?
I hope the Times boots all your worthless asses out the door.
Nobody has ever played center field for Boston the way Dom did. The single hit with a man on first was no longer an automatic advance to third. His ability to get off at the crack of the bat and his many over the shoulder catches going away from home were unique
He was one of the Greats and as a person he will be genuinely missed by all his fans.
I'm so very sorry to hear the sad news of Dom DiMaggio's passing. He was one of my heroes since I was 12 and grew up in the Bronx, NY. Yes, I was a loyal Red Sox fan then and am still a loyal Red Sox fan today at 74 years.
He has been on my mind for the last few months and wanted to write him to tell him this...
My heart goes out to his dear family. You have my love and my respect.
Just a class act, and better human being than ball player, and in Dom DiMaggio's case that says a ton. The Senior Committee should be ashamed they never selected him for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Even Ted Williams said DiMaggio did most of his fielding.
I think of how anomalous it would be to mention Dom DiMaggio and drugs in the same sentence. I was reminded of the kind of man he was when I read the
book, THE TEAMMATES, which tell of the trip a group took, with Dom driving
at the age of 82 to say good-bye to their dying teammate, Ted Williams, in Florida.
The group consisted of Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky and Dom, if memory serves. God rest you and we'll treasure the thrills watching you play brought
us, as we sang, to the tune of "Maryland, my Maryland"
"Who's better than his brother, Joe?
Domenic DiMaggio!"
When my father took me to my first game at Fenway my favorite player was a centerfielder named Doc Cramer. When I went back they had a new centerfielder named Dom DiMaggio. I asked my father if he was a ballplayer and he asked me why and I said because he wears glasses. I wore glasses and the kids said I couldn't play because I did. The kids let me play after that.
Two things I remember about Dom. One, in the seventh game of the 1946 World Series Dom got a double to tie the game 3-3 but he pulled a hammy and had to leave the game. His replacement, Leon Culbertson, was in center when Enos Saughter scored the winning run for the Cardinals.
They always gave Slaughter praise for scoring from first; Dom always said "he'd have never tried that on me".
The second was in 1953 when after three games the then Manager Lou Boudreau
told Dom that he was going to replace him as the starting center fielder with a rookie named Tommy Umphlett. Dom never said a word, he just walked over to his locker , cleaned it out, left, and never came back. He had hit .294 in 1952 and was 36 years old.
Umphlett finished the year and was traded to Washington in 1954. Dom never said a bad word about the whole thing and remained a Red Sox for the rest of his life.
A very real Class Act.
Wow, just wow. As a Sox fan who first fell in love with the team in 1949, Dom, along with Ted, Johnny, Vern, Bobby, Zeke, Birdie, Mel, Mickey, and Ellis, I would love to die in my chair watching the Sox beat any body...and I probably will.
DOM-JOHNY-TED-RUDY-BOBBY-PINKIE-LEON OR RIP-HAL-TEX OR BOO OR MICKY OR JOE;Those were the days my friend.I hoped they'd never end and for me,63 years later,they never have.Rest in peace Dom.
They just don't make ball players like Dom any more,and like you!!--i can name many during his era,to many to mention---thoes were ball players,and men to be looked up to,and they set a example for our children,they were men on and off the field!!--NOT LIKE THE BUNCH WE HAVE TODAY!!!!-THEY ARE A DISGRACE TO THE GAME,AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK!!!!---for this I blame the owners (GREED IS THE REASON)
Rest in peace, Little Professor. Nobody scores from first in Heaven today. Not with you in center.
what a great man. I'd read the book, so i knew.
This is another reason why i get so mad at the stars of today, Manny, A-Rod, Bonds, Clemens. They pushed (and are pushing) great men like this off the record books. People like Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle. Their accomplishements get pushed aside by cheaters. And that's a real shame.
A Winner in everything he did in life.
A life lived fully.
Wise choices made in all areas of his life
May we all be so lucky
RIP
Those were the good old days. DiMaggio, Pesky and Williams up as the first inning begins the game. Never will I forget how excited I used to get when Dom got on, Johnny sacrificed the runner and Ted got up and poked one to right filed.
Rest in peace, Dom and Ted and keep Johnny safe and healthy.
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