WHY I THINK DOM DIMAGGIO SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By-Damien
Dom DiMaggio was one of the best all around players in all of baseball during his time. He was the brother of Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, and not being the best in the family hurt. Joe was easily the better hitter, and he is far ahead of Dom in that sense, but he was not as good as his younger brother in anything else. That statement is bold, but correct - Dom was a better defensive centerfielder, had a better arm, and was a better baserunner than the immortal Joe DiMaggio was. Based on what each of their teammates said, Dom was also a much better teammate than Joe. Dom started his career with the Red Sox in 1940, the club with which he would play for throughout his career, and batted .301. He hit for his lowest average in 1941 (.283), but reached his career high in home runs in 1942. He was an all-star in each season. DiMaggio heroically sacrificed his age 26-28 seasons in military service, defending America from the greatest threat that the world has ever seen, but came back alive and well in 1946. Most players have to get back into the zone after three years of intense pressure, but DiMaggio batted .316 in 1946 and earned the third of his seven all-star selections. He stayed around .285 with 80 RBI’s in 1947 and 1948, and he batted .307 in 1949. DiMaggio had his best season in 1950, when he batted .328 and led the league with 131 runs scored. He led the AL in runs again in 1951, and had a career rate of 121 runs scored per 162 games, which is almost 30 more than the Hall of Fame average. DiMaggio batted .296 in 1951 and .294 in 1952, and finished up with a .333 average in three games in 1953. Dom DiMaggio was a fine hitter, a great fielder, a fantastic baserunner, and a complete player. For all of his achievements and the impact that he had on his club, DiMaggio really should be in the Hall of Fame.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,399 season high: 155 in 1948 led AL: 155 in 1948
At Bats career: 5,640 season high: 648 in 1948 led AL: 648 in 1948, 639 in 1951
Hits career: 1,680 season high: 193 in 1950
Doubles career: 308 season high: 40 in 1948
Triples career: 57 season high: 11 in 1950 led AL: 11 in 1950
Home Runs career: 87 season high: 14 in 1942
Runs career: 1,046 season high: 131 in 1950 led AL: 131 in 1950, 113 in 1951
Runs Batted In career: 618 season high: 87 in 1948
Stolen Bases career: 100 season high: 16 in 1942 led AL: 15 in 1950
Walks career: 750 season high: 101 in 1948
Strikeouts career: 571 season high: 68 in 1950
Batting Average career: .298 season high: .328 in 1950
On Base Percentage career: .383 season high: .414 in 1950
Slugging Percentage career: .419 season high: .464 in 1940
Total Bases career: 2,363 season high: 272 in 1942
Sacrifice Hits career: 57 season high: 9 in 1946 and 1947
Fielding percentage career: .978 season high: .987 in 1942 led AL CF: .978 in 1949
Double Plays career: 32 season high: 7 in 1942 led AL CF: 7 in 1942, 4 in 1947, and 1952
Putouts career: 3,859 season high: 503 in 1948 led AL CF: 394 in 1947, 481 in 1948, 424 in 1949
Assists career: 147 season high: 19 in 1942 and 1947 led AL CF: 19 in 1942 and 1947, 14 in 1949, 17 in 1951
DID YOU KNOW?
-brother of Joe and Vince DiMaggio
-nicknamed “The Little Professor”
-had a Red Sox record setting 34 game hitting streak in 1949
-led the AL in plate appearance in 1942 (702), 1948 (756), and 1951 (718)
-led the AL in hit by pitch in 1941 (7)
-finished ninth in the AL MVP Award voting in 1946, 14th in 1950, 16th in 1949, 19th in 1951, 27th in 1941, and 29th in 1948
-outhit Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Stan Musial in the 1946 World Series and contributed with seven hits, three doubles, two walks, and three RBI’s
-caught the last ball in the last game Lefty Grove ever pitched, which was also his 300th win
-Hall of Famer Ted Williams once said that it was a travesty that Dom was not in the Hall of Fame
-led AL centerfielders in games in 1948 (155) and 1951 (146)
-also played 12 games in leftfield, 26 in rightfield, 23 as a pinch hitter, and four as a pinch runner
-among MLB centerfielders, ranks 46th in career games, 25th in double plays, 41st in putouts, and 12th in assists
-was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1992
WHAT I SAY IS TRUE
Joe DiMaggio was a much better hitter than Dom, but Dom was a better fielder, thrower, and baserunner.
Batting Average
Joe - .325
Dom - .298
Fielding Percentage
Dom - .978266178
Joe - .978065594
Assists Per 154 Games On Defense
Dom - 16.48798252
Joe - 13.68292683
Stolen Bases Per 154 Games
Dom - 11.57969979
Joe - 2.661290323
Dom played some baseball in his military service. From his Sabr bio"While in the service, DiMaggio played for the Norfolk Naval Training Station team in Virginia and saw overseas duty as well."
ReplyDeleteI think you're bordering on heresy by saying Dom was the better baserunner. All you give is stolen bases. Stolen bases are a big part of base running, but taking extra-bases on hits is just as important. I know you won't care, but Baseball Reference rates Dom as being 17 runs above average on the base paths, and Jolting Joe at 40 runs above average.
Okay, I do suppose he played a bit in military service, and it is said that the MLB players - especially the pitchers - taught the soldiers how to throw grenades better and even make them curve a little. That's pretty cool. But I doubt he did nearly as much baseball while in service, and probably did not face as much Major League competition. I do not think that I am "bordering on heresy" when I say that Dom was the better baserunner. What was I supposed to give other than stolen bases on such short notice? I do care about Baseball-Reference's runs above average thing, but how is it calculated, and how do Baseball-Reference's creators know about how many extra bases the DiMaggios took? My point is that Joe was a better all-around player, but it is indeed close, (seeing as how Dom was better in a lot of important phases of the game) and Joe was such an undisputed legend that Dom should also be in Cooperstown.
DeleteAlso, does the 40-17 thing mean runs above average for a career or per 162 games?
DeleteActually, there were some very, very high quality military teams. A good site on that is https://baseballinwartime.com/
ReplyDeleteInformation on extra bases taken is probably from play-by-play from Retrosheet. I'm not sure how the final RAA is calculated.
And 40-17 is for career.
Thank you for pointing those things out to me. I appreciate knowledge. The site is not working for me, so if you know, how well did Dom do in the military? It is a major point of interest to me, and it may even help his Hall of Fame case if he excelled.
DeleteI hope you become able to use the site. This is taken from the site's biography of Dom:
ReplyDeleteDiMaggio served at Norfolk Naval Training Station during 1943, where he played baseball regularly.
He was sent to Australia in 1944 where he remained for the duration of the war, managing the Naval Depot Supply team in Brisbane. In addition to managing the team and playing outfield, he also played shortstop, did a little pitching and had to lay out the field before the games.
n September 1944, the Service World Series was scheduled between the Army and Navy in Hawaii. The Navy pulled out all the stops to make their team the best possible for this prestigious event. Dom DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto were flown in from Australia, while others were recruited from Great Lakes in Illinois and Sampson Naval Training Station in Maryland. The Navy easily clinched the series title winning nine of the eleven games played.
(I found some more information about the 1942 Norfolk team on another page-here it is paraphrased) The team went 68-22. On the team, besides Dom, were Phil Rizzuto, Don Padgett, and Walt Masterson.
Hope you find this interesting.
Thank You. I didn't know much about that before you commented. I will change the wording around a bit to make it just accurate.
Delete