Joe DiMaggio Quotes

“The reporter asked, "why did you play so hard.""Because there might have been somebody in the stands today who'd never seen my play before, and might never see me again"-Joe DiMaggio”

“DiMaggio's grace came to represent more than athletic skill in those years. To the men who wrote about the game, it was a talisman, a touchstone, a symbol of the limitless potential of the human individual. That an Italian immigrant, a fisherman's son, could catch fly balls the way Keats wrote poetry or Beethoven wrote sonatas was more than just a popular marvel. It was proof positive that democracy was real. On the baseball diamond, if nowhere else, America was truly a classless society. DiMaggio's grace embodied the democracy of our dreams.”

“The phrase 'off with the crack of the bat', while romantic, is really meaningless, since the outfielder should be in motion long before he hears the sound of the ball meeting the bat.”

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.”

“A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example.”

“You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.”

“Your brain commands your body to "Run forward! Bend! Scoop up the ball! Peg it to the infield!" Then your body says "Who me?"”

“Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio.”

“I want you to know how I feel about my Italian heritage so I'd like to say a few words in Italian: Verdi Pavarotti DiMaggio Valentino De Niro Giuliani. . .”

“Italian-Americans in New York had not been in much of a flag-waving mood prior to DiMaggio's arrival. By the All-Star break, the rookie had established himself as a wonderful player (.358, 10HR, 60 RBIs), fully justifying the acclaim. But Gehrig was even better (.399, 20 HR, 61 RBIs). He was leading the league in nearly every category, including invisibility.”