Joe DiMaggio

Immortalized in song and story, Joe DiMaggio is one of baseball's most accomplished players—and also one of its most enigmatic stars. DiMaggio's life is often seen as embodying the American Dream. The son of Sicilian immigrants, he rose from an unexceptional childhood in San Francisco to stardom on the national pastime's greatest stage—Yankee Stadium. As a player, DiMaggio fought off injuries and earned a reputation for unyielding excellence, exemplified by his Major-League-record 56-game hitting streak. DiMaggio's celebrity and sense of style and grace transcended the game, and his brief marriage to America's sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, remains the stuff of legends. But Joltin' Joe struggled with the attention and scrutiny that came with fame, and he became increasingly reclusive in later life. In this concise biography, David Jones offers a complex new look at the man who was once voted baseball's greatest living player. It has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing in professional sports. Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters presents biographies on Greenwood's selection for the 12 best hitters in Major League history, written by some of today's best baseball authors. These books present straightforward stories in accessible language for the high school researcher and the general reader alike. Each volume includes a timeline, bibliography, and index. In addition, each volume includes a Making of a Legend chapter that analyses the evolution of the player's fame and (in some cases) infamy.