Author Guest Post with Jonathan Weeks: Tales of the Yankee Clipper

There has probably never been a professional baseball player more of a puzzle than Joe DiMaggio.

Welcome to the February 16th stop on the blog tour for Tales of the Yankee Clipper by Jonathan Weeks with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Dimaggio’s Comedic Partner

Although Joe DiMaggio gained a reputation for being stoic, aloof, and ultra-reserved, teammate Lefty Gomez saw another side of him. “You had to know Joe to really understand his personality,” said Gomez—a Hall of Fame pitcher. “He [was] quiet, but he could be a very funny fellow. I liked to needle him…and he could take it. He would never get mad, just look at me and say, ‘Aw, Lefty.’”

During spring training one year, Gomez handed DiMaggio a suitcase and asked him to carry it back to the team’s hotel. It was unusually cumbersome and Joe’s arm was aching by the time the task was complete. Curious about what was inside, he opened the case to find that Gomez had stuffed a heavy wooden log in there. Joe found the hurler’s prank amusing, later sharing it with a writer from the New York Times.

In spite of his sober image, DiMaggio could be light-hearted in the right company. One day, after a tough loss to the Indians at Cleveland Stadium, Gomez was feeling dejected. The Yankees were scheduled to play Detroit the following day and, in no mood for company, Gomez planned on spending the train ride alone in his cabin. DiMaggio stopped by and invited Gomez to eat with him in the dining car, but the brooding southpaw refused. In an effort to lift his friend’s spirits, Joe resorted to an uncharacteristic display of immaturity, putting his thumb and index finger on his nose and plucking it like a musical instrument. “Don’t I sound like a banjo?’ he joked.

Unaccustomed to such buffoonery from DiMaggio, Gomez burst out laughing. This drew the attention of manager Joe McCarthy, who was in a nearby compartment. McCarthy ran the team with a heavy hand. One biographer remarked that he “tended to frown on players who laughed too loud or spoke too loud. He thought they were goofballs who didn’t pay strict attention to the game as he wanted. McCarthy thought players should linger in the locker room after games to talk baseball.” Wondering what the commotion was about, the Yankee skipper whipped open the door to his cabin and barked at Gomez. His comments amused Joe, who started to laugh hysterically. At a loss for words, McCarthy ducked back inside his quarters and slammed the door hard enough to shake the train car.

About the Book

Tales of the Yankee Clipper
Yankees Icon Trilogy Book Three
by Jonathan Weeks

Published 6 February 2024
Lyons Press

Genre: Non-Fiction, Sports Biography
Page Count: 234
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

There has probably never been a professional baseball player more of a puzzle than Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio had a talent for keeping his emotions suppressed and his innermost thoughts to himself. Few could say that they really knew him. And even the ones who did found him to be unpredictable. He was a walking contradiction. He was quiet, but not necessarily shy. He could be both gracious and abrupt, approachable or aloof depending on the situation. Although he came across as humble, he had a tremendous sense of entitlement. He was complex, secretive, inscrutable. There were many layers to the man who came to be affectionately known as the “Yankee Clipper.” DiMaggio always felt that his actions on the field should do the talking for him. And for the most part, they did. To many, DiMaggio personified elegance, style, and grace. An impeccable dresser, he was married to two glamorous actresses. On the field, he glided almost effortlessly, never having to dive for a ball and rarely (if ever) making a mistake on the basepaths. He became the living embodiment of the American dream and a symbol of the country’s so-called “greatest generation.” But as time marched on, DiMaggio grew increasingly distrustful of the people around him. It was understandable—inevitable even. The third book in Jonathan Week’s Yankees trilogy contains an abundance of anecdotes, statistics, and other little known facts about the Yankee Clipper.

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Excerpt

YANKEE STALKER

While recovering from an injury at the beginning of the 1949 campaign, DiMaggio began receiving love notes from a woman he was not acquainted with. At the same time, letters started turning up at the offices of various New York gossip columnists. They were signed by a woman calling herself “Junior Standish,” who claimed to be in a romantic relationship with the Yankee slugger. DiMaggio was familiar with a Broadway dancer of the same name, but had never actually dated her. When a handful of columnists reported that the two had become a couple, DiMaggio and Standish both made public statements to the contrary.

The plot thickened when the mysterious letter-writer attempted to make contact with DiMaggio at his hotel. After being turned away, she sent a note threatening suicide if her efforts to meet him were thwarted in the future. Alarmed by this turn of events, Yankee PR-man Arthur Patterson contacted the police and enlisted the help of a bodyguard to protect Joe.  

While police were investigating the matter, another note containing suicidal threats was delivered to DiMaggio’s hotel room. Hoping to produce some tangible leads regarding the author’s identity, details were leaked to the press. A 30-year-old woman was eventually taken into custody. While being interrogated by the assistant district attorney in Manhattan, she suffered a mental breakdown, screaming hysterically and threatening to kill herself. Police transported her to a Bronx hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Doctors agreed to release her into the custody of her father on the condition that she seek counseling and leave DiMaggio alone. She agreed to the arrangement and never bothered Joe again. Her identity was not disclosed to the press.

Incidents of a darker nature had plagued major-league baseball on prior occasions. A few weeks before DiMaggio’s stalker was taken into custody, a 19-year-old office worker named Ruth Steinhagen shot Phillies’ first baseman Eddie Waitkus in a Chicago hotel room. The troubled teen, who had developed an unhealthy obsession with Waitkus, ended up in a state psychiatric hospital, where she remained for three years. Waitkus recovered and played six more seasons. A similar scene had unfolded in 1932, when Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges was shot at the Carlos Hotel in Chicago by a showgirl named Violet Popovich. Jurges had broken off a casual relationship with Popovich, prompting her to behave irrationally. The infielder was shot twice—once in the hand and again in the ribs—but returned to action that year. He played in the majors until 1948.   

About the Author

Jonathan Weeks has written several sports biographies and two novels, one of which was a posthumous collaboration with his father. He grew up in the Capital District region of New York State and currently works in the mental health field.

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