Joe DiMaggio led the New York Yankees to nine World Series titles during his legendary career. What’s even more amazing to think is that DiMaggio took a hiatus to assist the United States during World War II. DiMaggio famously also had a relationship with superstar Marilyn Monroe. While the two didn’t make it in marriage, DiMaggio sent flowers to her grave weekly for 37 years. He also never remarried after his divorce from Monroe. DiMaggio’s life as an athlete and pop culture figure led him to having numerous iconic quotes.
In reference to Monroe, DiMaggio allegedly famously said he was fine with dying because “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn again.” There are some who doubt whether these were actually DiMaggio’s last words. His attorney, Morris Engelberg, as long maintained that DiMaggio did utter this before dying. DiMaggio had regrets about how is marriage with Monroe played out while the two were together.
Another famous quote DiMaggio said was “I’d like to thank the Lord for making me a Yankee.” Despite everything that happened in his life off the field, DiMaggio is most known for being one of the best New York Yankees in history. Tons of players talk about how special it feels to put on the Yankee pinstripes every day. There’s an aura when walking into the stadium, knowing there were countless legends like DiMaggio and Babe Ruth who played before. DiMaggio didn’t take being a member of the New York Yankees for granted. For more sports content, click here to read about baby boomers’ favorite football players.
To compile this list of iconic quotes by the iconic Joe DiMaggio, 24/7 Tempo consulted quote sources. These include Brainy Quote, JoeDiMaggio.com, and Baseball-Almanac.
“I’d like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.”
Millions of kids grow up playing baseball in their backyards. They always pretend to be famous players. Some of the most common names to pick from are Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter, and Joe DiMaggio. The common theme among these three men is they were all part of the New York Yankees. There’s something special about being one of the few who plays for one of the most storied franchises in the world.
Joe DiMaggio grew up knowing he wanted to play for the Yankees. His family came to the United States from Italy. New York City has a strong Italian population. DiMaggio also had the confidence in himself that he would preform at the highest level of competition. Not many players get to step onto the field at Yankee Stadium and know they’re standing in the same place as legends. DiMaggio understood how lucky he was to be in that position.
“I’ll finally get to see Marilyn again.”
Joe DiMaggio had a public life outside of baseball. He had two marriages, most notably to Marilyn Monroe. She was an actress at the time who was revolutionizing show business. However, there were plenty of people during that time who didn’t like how revealing the outfits she wore were. DiMaggio was one of those people. There are tons of stories about how he tried to control Monroe and didn’t want her to pursue acting.
The duo divorced and Monroe died soon after. For the rest of his life, DiMaggio made efforts to showcase his remorse for the way he treated Monroe during their marriage. He constantly sent flowers to her grave and took care of her estate. When his health deteriorated, he wasn’t upset. According to his lawyer, the last words out of DiMaggio’s mouth before he died were “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn again.”
“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.”
In 2024, athletes across most sports take “load management” seriously. The idea was popularized by the NBA. Players have scheduled nights off to rest and be ready for the postseason. While it makes for entertaining games later on, there are multiple people who despise the idea of it. Most fans don’t get to go to every game their favorite team plays. Most only go once or twice per year. Whenever they do go, they hope their favorite athlete is ready to play and not taking the night off.
Joe DiMaggio talked about how important it is to show up for fans and play hard every day. He knew that there might be someone in the stands who had never seen him play before. There was a chance they never would again in person, either. Television wasn’t popular enough to showcase every game live like it is today. DiMaggio took pride in showing up to the ballpark and making dreams of fans come true.
“You always get a special kick on Opening Day, no matter how many you go through.”
Every team feels like they have a chance to win on the first day of the season. However, Opening Day in baseball carries a different sort of excitement. For many folks, Opening Day is the unofficial start of spring. The weather becomes nice enough to play sports outside at that time. Tons of people go to games and get stadium food like hot dogs and ice cream. The smell of freshly mowed grass consumes the stadium.
Fans aren’t the only ones who get excited about opening day. Players have been playing in spring training games for a month prior to getting ready for real matches to start. Joe DiMaggio knew how special Opening Day was. He claimed to still get butterflies of excitement when he got to the ballpark.
“I’m just a ball player with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win.”
Tons of athletes these days care about how they look to fans. The better they look, the more endorsements they’ll get in the long haul. That means the athlete will generate more money for themselves and their families. However, there was a time when athletes didn’t put so much focus into their brand and how they look. Instead, they cared about winning games and doing whatever it took.
Joe DiMaggio is considered one of the most selfless people in baseball history. He knew there would be different things required of him every day to help his team win. DiMaggio didn’t care what he had to do, as long as the team won. It does make it easier to stomach doing things like bunting when it clearly pays off. There’s no telling how much the success he would have had individually if he didn’t sometimes sacrifice his stats.
“When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game.”
There are numerous people who say that baseball is America’s favorite past time. The sport was first created in the 1800s and has been an integral part of society ever since. Nearly every young boy, and girl, has played baseball or softball at some point in their lives. They do so because they love the sport and still get excited playing.
Joe DiMaggio knew how fun it was to be a ball player. He was one of the people who subscribed to the idea that “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” DiMaggio argued that games should be fun and you should enjoy playing them. If there was ever a point playing a game wasn’t fun, then it couldn’t be considered a game anymore.
“I’m a ballplayer, not an actor.”
Sports are seen as entertainment for a lot of people. They provide a unique ability to allow people of a city to rally behind a team and its players. Sports are great because they’re not scripted. This means anything can happen at any given moment. Nobody came up with the outcome of a game.
There are a lot of folks who see athletes as entertainers. Joe DiMaggio quickly shut that idea down. If you’re an actor, your job is to memorize lines and do what you’re told. The outcome is already known. If the outcome of a sporting event was already known, people likely wouldn’t watch anymore.
“Now I’ve had everything except the thrill of watching Babe Ruth play.”
Even the greatest baseball players of all-time wish they had seen Babe Ruth play live. He was head and shoulders better than everyone else on the field. Ruth was one of the greatest pitchers ever, before becoming arguably the greatest hitter in history. His home run record was once thought to be unbreakable, until Hank Aaron did it.
Ruth played for the Yankees for a large percentage of his career. His best years were with the team, and he even is thought of as the reason the Boston Red Sox didn’t win a World Series for 84 years. Joe DiMaggio wished he saw Ruth play during his career to get a glimpse of what the greatness was like. Today, Shohei Ohtani is talked about in the same breath as Ruth. He’s a dominant pitcher and hitter.
“A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example.”
There are countless leaders in the world today. Some are leaders because of their title. However, others are considered leaders because of how they treat their day to day lives. No matter what industry you work in, you’re more likely to follow the person who works hard and is dedicated to their craft.
In sports, nothing more rings true. Being considered a leader means you come in early to get in extra practice. Joe DiMaggio was considered one of the leaders of the New York Yankees during his playing career. He constantly showed up to work hard and became one of the greatest hitters in the history of the sport. In fact, he set the record for getting a hit in 56 straight games.
“We need a hit, so here I go.”
Part of being a leader is knowing when it’s your time to shine. You can bring people where they need to go, but you’re also relied upon for getting the job done in the biggest spots. In sports, the person who takes the final shot or steps up to the plate when the game is on the line is typically considered the best player on the team. Their teammates trust them to get the job done.
There are few baseball players who came up more clutch than Joe DiMaggio during his career. He knew he was always counted on for getting a hit when his team needed it. Rather than put the pressure on himself, DiMaggio figured he might as well relax and treat a big moment like any other situation. That’s much easier said than done, though.
“I think there are some players born to play ball.”
Everyone was put on planet Earth with some sort of special talent. There’s natural skill inside everyone. Some people were born to be artists. Others were born to be athletes. There are plenty of drills athletes can do to perfect their skills of hitting a baseball. However, there are some people who have the gift of tracking pitches. It’s nearly impossible to hit a ball coming at you at 95 mph with movement. There’s a certain amount of luck when putting the bat toward the pitcher.
Joe DiMaggio knew that some people were just lucky with how quickly their eyes responded to their brains. The time it takes to transmit the information to your brain and send the necessary reaction to your muscles makes it nearly impossible to hit a ball. That’s why the greatest players in baseball history fail 70% of the time. If you bat .300 in your career, that means you didn’t get on base the other seven times you were at bat. Some people were born to play ball.
“All pitchers are born pitchers.”
Being a pitcher is drastically different than being a hitter. If you’re a pitcher, you’re expected to average allowing less than 1.5 guys on base per inning you pitch. Should you allow more than that, you’re likely going to find yourself out of a job pretty quickly. It takes a lot of mental strength to not allow a baserunner to get in your head. You’re also supposed to quickly bounce back whenever you give up a big hit or home run.
Pitchers have different mentalities than most people in the world. Joe DiMaggio knew that and acknowledged it during his career. Anyone who’s a pitcher also must be incredibly accurate when throwing a ball. They have to possess the arm talent to throw consistently hard to batters. There’s tons that goes into being a pitcher that plenty of fans don’t realize.
“I can remember a reporter asking me for a quote, and I didn’t know what a quote was. I thought it was some kind of soft drink.”
There’s a funny stigma surrounding athletes that they’re not the brightest people in the world. Most of their time is spent becoming the best versions of themselves athletically, not in the classroom. Baseball players especially joke about the only thing that they’re good at is hitting a baseball or pitching it in the perfect location. Most people who play baseball at a high level continue to work in the game once they retire from playing.
Joe DiMaggio is no different than most players. When he was in high school, DiMaggio left early to work various jobs. He played semi-pro baseball throughout California. His brother played in the PCL and talked his manager into letting DiMaggio join the team late in the year. He crushed it with that team and played well enough to make a Yankees scout push to sign him. DiMaggio had great quotes with reporters, one of which being he didn’t know what a quote was at one point.
“A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer.”
There are vast stories about athletes who put in tireless amounts of work to get where they want to. It’s ironic that the work seemingly doubles every level you go up. It takes a certain type of personality to continue wanting to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to keep themselves in the best physical shape. Most people would get tired and decide to pursue a career that doesn’t involve as much effort.
That’s one of the reasons people are so fascinated with athletes, though. They look at them as these people in peak physical condition who have put their bodies through tremendous workouts. Joe DiMaggio acknowledged that anyone who makes it as an athlete has to keep going if they want to stay at the top of the mountain.
“If anyone wants to know why three kids in one family made it to the big leagues they just had to know how we helped each other and how much we practiced.”
The DiMaggio family didn’t send one child to the major leagues, they sent three. All three had prolonged careers in professional baseball as well. Typically, whenever there’s a family who produces multiple athletes, they all had a share in assisting the other one get there.
Joe DiMaggio acknowledged how vital his brothers were in his development as a player. He knew he wouldn’t have reached the heights he did if they didn’t play together all day when they were growing up. Regardless of how close the brothers were when they got older, all three impacted the other one. For more sports content, click here to read about 18 things you didn’t know about the NBA.