Baseball: The Great DiMaggio

Joseph Paul DiMaggio, a.k.a. The Great DiMaggio is mentioned several times in The Old Man and the Sea. Most likely because DiMaggio's father being a fisherman. Joe and his father actually fished together and Santiago liked that, because he is a fisherman as well.

About DiMaggio
Born: November 25th, 1914
Where : Martinez, California
Deceased: March 8th, 1999
Start of Baseball Career: The year of 1932 with the Pacific Coast League
Career Highlights: Played for the New York Yankees from 1936 until his retirement in 1951. He had a 56 game hitting streak and played in 10 World Series. He was on the winning team for 9 of them. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955.

There are many different Stories about how baseball got into Latin America. One of which being that American sailors docked in the port of Matanzas and started playing, prompting Cuban spectators to give it a try. At first the sport wasn't really a big thing in Cuba, but now, it is actually considered by some to be their national sport. Cubans are wild over baseball and continue to play it to this day.

Images taken from "The Hero's Life": Joe DiMaggio and Dan Hellers Photos of Baseball in Cuba

Home • Religion in Old Man and the Sea • Fishing in the 50s • World Politics
Life in Cuba • Baseball: The Great DiMaggio • Characters in the Story
About Ernest Hemingway • About this Site