DOM DIMAGGIO

You want to talk Dominic DiMaggio, you are talking steady. He is a lifetime .298 hitter. Except for three games in 1953, he was a regular all of his 11-season career. He never skied above .328, never dropped below .283. Steady. 7 All Star teams in those 10 full seasons. He scored runs, averaging 105 a year for his career. And "The Little Professor" had some power, averaging 31 doubles and 75 rbi per season

He was the Red Sox lead-off hitter of the '40s and early '50s. During the prime of his career, his job was to get on, followed by the aptly named number 2 man, Johny Pesky. They got on, even one of them, and up came Ted Williams. Dom was a fine leadoff man, and one of the best centerfielders of his day; many sportswriters of the late '40s considered him as good or better than Joe, who is the standard for center fielding excellence in that period. David Halberstam in The Summer of '49, refers to Dom as the most under-rated player of the day.

What's with "The Little Professor" bit, anyway? Dom was the runt of the DiMaggio litter, the last male child. Whereas Joe was 6' 2", 193, Dominic was 5' 9", and weighed 168 pounds after a big meal. Yet when he and 143 other wannabes showed up at a tryout camp the S.F. Seals held in 1937, he was the top prospect and was signed. They felt they had to hide him in the outfield, though; given the non-shatterproof glasses of the day, the Seals were afraid a bad hop grounder off the dirt might cause serious damage. Not many major leaguers wore glasses in those days, and most who did were pitchers. He was a novelty. And he really was professorial. They talk about Joe being dignified, how is this for reserve? When an ump made a bad call on him one day, he was so angry he said, "I have never witnessed such incompetence in my life!" That is the way he speaks. After his playing days, he could have managed or been a terrific baseball executive. Instead he started a New England plastics factory and became a wealthy man.

What of Giuseppe's hostility, then grudging acceptance towards the "idler's game?" When Dom was in high school, the old man was basking in Joe's reputation, and he asked Dom "When are you going to play?" Being small, he constantly had to push himself. He worked hard on and built up his small body. Perhaps it was here that he learned the timing that made him such a great outfielder. A fisherman has to anticipate where they are biting, an outfielder, especially a small one, has to be prepared for the play. He also worked as an army lifeguard, then went to work for Simmoms Bed Co., pressing springs, and got stronger still. He was playing for the Simmon's team when the Seals signed him. Although he showed promise, he lunged at the ball and manager Lefty O'Doul, who had taken Joe under his wing now did the same for Dom. In 1939 Dom hit .361 for the Seals.

By 1940 the Red Sox judged him ready. Even though he hit .306 as a rookie, the inevitable comparisons with Joe began. A San Francisco sportswriter claimed Dom was a poor player cashing in on Joe's name. Even Joe, on a trip to Boston that year, admitted he had felt the same thingÑuntil he saw Dom play. In the earlier years the comparisons embittered him, although they may have egged him on to become the great player he was.

As for so many players, WWII changed everything. He matured in the service, and learned not to worry about what other people expected of him. After he returned he was simply concerned with being the best player Dom DiMaggio could be, and stopped worrying about foe. He was a key player on the 1946 pennant winner, and when most of the other stars slumped in mid-summer, it was largely his hustle and fine play that kept them in the race. He hit .316 that year. He scored the deciding run in Boston's victory in game 5 of the Series, giving them a 3-2 edge. They went on to lose in Game 7 on Enos Slaughter's gallop home, the first Red Sox team to lose a World Series.