MVP Profile: Joe DiMaggio, 1941

Outfielder, New York Yankees

Age:  26

6^th season with Yankees

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 193 

Prior to 1941:

Born in California as the son of an Italian immigrant fisherman, DiMaggio was raised in San Francisco where he played for several amateur and semi-pro baseball teams before he followed his older brother Vince onto the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League near the end of the 1932 season. Signed for $225 per month to play for the Seals in 1933 he was shifted from shortstop to the outfield. His 1933 season was highlighted by a PCL-record 61-game hitting streak on his way to a .340 average with 28 home runs and 169 RBIs. DiMaggio hit .341 in 101 games for the Seals in 1934 until he was sidelined by a knee injury that made major league teams leery of pursuing him. The Yankees offered the Seals five players and $25,000 for DiMaggio’s contract, under the provision that he would play for the Seals in 1935 and prove that his knee was healthy. He had a big year with 34 home runs, 154 RBIs, and a .398 batting average. Joining the Yankees in 1936 he made an immediate impact, batting .323 with 44 doubles, a league-leading 15 triples, 29 home runs, and 125 RBIs. He also led AL outfielders with 22 assists and started for the AL in the All-Star Game and finished eighth in league MVP voting while the Yankees returned to the top of the AL for the first time in four years and won the World Series. DiMaggio had a bigger year in 1937, placing second in AL MVP voting while leading the circuit in runs scored (151), home runs (46), slugging percentage (.673), and total bases (418) while also hitting .346 and accounting for 18 outfield assists. He had a third straight All-Star season in 1938 in which he batted .324 with 32 doubles, 13 triples, 32 home runs, and 140 RBIs. In the field he contributed 20 assists. He ranked sixth in AL MVP voting as the Yankees made it three straight World Series titles. An excellent all-around batter who hit for power and average out of a wide stance, DiMaggio was also a formidable baserunner and covered much ground in center field with his speed and as his outfield assist numbers reveal, he had a strong throwing arm. In 1939, DiMaggio hit a league-leading .381 along with 30 home runs, 126 RBIs, a .448 on-base percentage, and a .671 slugging percentage. He received league MVP honors for the first time as the Yankees won another title. He capped the four-game sweep of Cincinnati in the World Series when he scored the winning run in Game 4 as Cincinnati catcher Ernie Lombardi lay dazed next to home plate following a collision with another scoring baserunner. The Yankees dropped to third place in the AL in 1940, but DiMaggio was not at fault as he again topped the league’s batters with a .352 average while also compiling 28 doubles, 9 triples, 31 home runs, and 133 RBIs.

1941 Season Summary

Appeared in 139 games

CF – 139

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 622 [19]

At Bats – 541 [18]

Runs – 122 [2]

Hits – 193 [3]

Doubles – 43 [2]

Triples – 11 [4, tied with Buddy Lewis, Mickey Vernon & Gee Walker]

Home Runs – 30 [4]

RBI – 125 [1]

Bases on Balls – 76 [17]

Int. BB – 21 [2]

Strikeouts – 13

Stolen Bases – 4

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .357 [3]

OBP - .440 [3]

Slugging Pct. - .643 [2]

Total Bases – 348 [1]

GDP – 6

Hit by Pitches – 4 [7, tied with Joe Gordon & Jeff Heath]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading RBIs were +2 ahead of runner-up Jeff Heath

League-leading total bases were +5 ahead of runner-up Jeff Heath

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 21, 3B – 5, HR - 19, RBI - 71, AVG - .357, SLG - .650, OBP – .434

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Most hits, game – 4 on seven occasions

Longest hitting streak – 56 games (MLB record)

HR at home – 16

HR on road – 14

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) at St. Louis Browns 6/8, (in 4 AB) vs. Phila. A’s 9/24

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Phila. A’s 4/20

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 410

Put Outs – 385

Assists – 16

Errors – 9

DP – 5

Pct. - .978 

Postseason Batting: 5 G (World Series vs. Brooklyn)

PA – 21,AB – 19, R – 1, H – 5, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .263, OBP - .333, SLG - .263, TB – 5, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – N/A

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (Started for AL in CF)

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Joe DiMaggio, NYY.: 291 points - 15 of 24 first place votes, 87% share

Ted Williams, BosRS.: 254 points – 8 first place votes, 76% share

Bob Feller, Clev.: 174 points – 52% share

Thornton Lee, ChiWS.: 144 points – 1 first place vote, 43% share

Charlie Keller, NYY: 126 points – 38% share

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The Yankees went 101-53 to win the AL pennant by 17 games over the Boston Red Sox while leading the league in home runs (151). The Yankees started slowly but surged during DiMaggio’s record hitting streak to a 48-26 first half record. They clinched their fourth consecutive pennant on Sept. 2, despite losing DiMaggio for a month due to an August ankle sprain. Won World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 1. The turning point in the Series came in the ninth inning of Game 4 when, with the Dodgers on the cusp of victory with a 4-3 lead a third strike passed ball by Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen sparked a 4-run Yankee rally that put the Yanks up by a 3-games-to-1 margin and they clinched the next day with a 3-1 win in Game 5.

Aftermath of 1941:

In 1942 DiMaggio, known as “Joltin’ Joe” and “the Yankee Clipper”, saw his batting average drop to .305 while he still contributed 29 doubles, 13 triples, 21 home runs, and 114 RBIs. He missed the next three seasons as a result of World War II duty in the Army Air Force. Returning to the Yankees in 1946 he had a relative off-year, batting .290 with 25 home runs and 95 RBIs for the third-place team. In the off-season, a bone spur was surgically removed from his left heel. Further surgery kept DiMaggio out of action until mid-April of the 1947 season. He ended up hitting .315 with 31 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs, and 97 RBIs for the pennant-winning Yankees, and in the outfield committed only one error and had a league-best .997 fielding percentage. He won his third AL MVP award by a single vote over Boston’s Triple Crown-winning Ted Williams. In the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, DiMaggio hit two home runs and most memorably was robbed of a potential third in Game 6 on a spectacular catch by obscure reserve outfielder Al Gionfriddo, eliciting a rare display of emotion from the typically reserved and undemonstrative DiMaggio, who kicked the dirt near second base in frustration upon seeing the catch had been made. The Yankees finished third in a torrid AL pennant race in 1948 although DiMaggio batted .320 and topped the league in home runs (39), RBIs (155), and total bases (355). He placed second in league MVP voting. The chronic heel injury caused him to miss the first 65 games of the 1949 season and a bout with pneumonia put him in the hospital in September. Appearing in just 76 games he hit .346 with 14 home runs and 67 RBIs. DiMaggio played in 139 games in 1950 and batted .301 with 32 home runs and 122 RBIs. With age and injuries catching up to him, he played one more season in 1951, hitting .263 with 12 home runs and 71 RBIs. He retired and for his major league career that was spent entirely with the Yankees, DiMaggio batted .325 with 2214 hits that included 389 doubles, 131 triples, and 361 home runs. He also compiled 1537 RBIs, a .398 on-base percentage, and a .579 slugging percentage. Playing in ten World Series (9 of which the Yanks won), “the Yankee Clipper” hit .271 with 8 home runs and 30 RBIs. DiMaggio was a 13-time All-Star and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. The Yankees retired his #5 and after his death in 1999 a monument was placed in his honor at Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park. Classy and dignified, DiMaggio personified the Yankee championship teams of his time. In retirement he had a short marriage to glamorous actress Marilyn Monroe that kept his name in the public eye and fell victim to his private nature and discomfort with the trappings of celebrity. He later served as a vice president and coach for the Oakland Athletics and a commercial spokesperson for several businesses. His brothers Vince and Dom also played major league baseball and were each fine center fielders.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.