Not Even DiMaggio’s Streak Seems Safe Now

Joe DiMaggio thinks bouncy baseballs, not bigger biceps, are the main reason home runs are being hit at a record pace in the major leagues this season.

“No one can tell me the ball isn’t livelier,” said DiMaggio, who hit 361 home runs in his 13-year career with the New York Yankees.

“I know the players are stronger today, but that can’t be the whole reason. Why is it happening so suddenly? Did they all get stronger over the winter?”

Maybe some of the players did.

The Baltimore Orioles set a major league record by hitting 58 home runs in May, one less than St. Louis hit as a team in 1986. Eric Davis, Andre Dawson and rookie Mark McGwire each have 19 homers and are ahead of Roger Maris’ pace when he set a major league record with 61 homers in 1961.

DiMaggio, whose 56-game hitting streak in 1941 is still a major league record, said he was impressed by Robin Ventura’s 58-game streak in college baseball this season.

“I don’t care what league you’re in, it’s not easy hitting in 58 games in a row,” he said during a promotional appearance for the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation.

DiMaggio hit in 61 straight games as a minor leaguer, but he knows his major league mark is the one people remember.

“The major leagues is the pinnacle, the tops,” he said. “No one remembers what you did in the minors.”

DiMaggio’s record is one of the best-known in sports, but even he has a hard time explaining its mystique.

“I know people still talk about it, but I’m not sure why,” he said. “There are other records that have lasted as long, like Lou Gehrig’s (2,130 consecutive games played) and Johnny Vander Meer’s (two straight no-hitters). But they don’t seem to get the same attention.”

Cincinnati’s Pete Rose challenged the record in 1978, but his streak was stopped at 44.

“The way he was going, I thought he would do it,” DiMaggio said. “No record is going to stand forever, and that includes mine.”

DiMaggio, who remains an avid baseball fan, is pleased to see the Yankees near the top in the American League East.

“I think they can win the pennant,” he said. “They’ve got an excellent offense and a pretty good defense. Their pitching may not be the best, but how many teams in the league have great pitching staffs?”

DiMaggio, 72, had a pacemaker implanted in his chest in February, but the surgery hasn’t slowed the Hall of Famer down.

“Everything’s fine,” he said. “I still walk three to four miles a day and I play a lot of golf.