Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 â March 8, 1999), nicknamed “Joltin’ Joe”, “The Yankee Clipper” and “Joe D.”, was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Sicilian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and is best known for setting the record for the longest hitting streak in baseball (56 games from May 15 â July 16, 1941), which still stands.
Joe traded a $43,750 Yankees salary for a payment of $50 each month when he chose to enlist in the army on February 17th, 1943. It was reported that Joe requested he receive no special treatment, yet he spent most of his time in the Army playing baseball, as did many other big league stars.
The purpose of Joe and other big leaguers playing on the military teams was to keep the regular troops entertained, as well as keep public morale high. World War I had put an end to the baseball season in 1918, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed it was important for the country to keep baseball going in World War II.
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