DiMaggio Auction Overshadowed by Sheer Speculation

Ever wonder about the validity of items listed at sports memorabilia auctions?

The latest is a stocking allegedly worn by Marilyn Monroe on her honeymoon night with Joe DiMaggio at the Clifton Motel in Paso Robles. Apparently someone spied it in a wastebasket after the DiMaggios checked out and saved it for posterity.

Forty-six years later it has surfaced as an auction item. Bidding starts at $500 and it is expected to sell for more than $3,000 at the Mastro Fine Sports Auction.

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More DiMag: Among other items listed is a “bat used by DiMaggio from his minor league days with the Oakland Seals.”

As any old Pacific Coast League fan knows, it was the San Francisco Seals. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

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Trivia time: Who are the only two drivers still alive who drove in the Indianapolis 500 before World War II?

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Help needed: When Joe Gibbs Racing announced it would have a two-car Busch Grand National stock car team next season, it was widely speculated that J. D. Gibbs, a son of the former Super Bowl-winning coach, would be one of the drivers.

The younger Gibbs, who has raced occasionally in the Busch North series and has had his share of wrecks, said no thanks.

“We don’t have enough guys in the fabricators’ shop for me to do that,” J.D. said.

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Losing doesn’t pay: The Cleveland Indians lost more than just a playoff series to the Boston Red Sox. Shares of the Cleveland Indians Baseball Co. fell 4.9% after their 12-8 loss last week sent the Indians home for the winter.

The Indians are major league baseball’s only publicly traded company.

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Winning does: Pedro Martinez stands to collect a $250,000 bonus from the Boston Red Sox when he wins the Cy Young Award this year, but he is among a small group of players who wouldn’t get a bonus if his team won the world championship.

Curiously, Pedro’s brother, Ramon, is among those who will get a bonus if the Red Sox win the World Series. He will receive $50,000.

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Wrong stand: Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick seemingly had the Heisman Trophy locked up until his arrest for felony theft--underpaying for designer clothes at a Tallahassee, Fla., department store.

Heisman voter Bruce Hooley of the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer says, “I think the Heisman stands for something more than what he stood for at Dillard’s [department store].”

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Trivia answer: Duke Nalon and George Connor. Nalon first drove in 1938, Connor in 1935.

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And finally: An article in GQ magazine claims that former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler abused and humiliated his players. To which MSNBC’s Michael Ventre said, “It’s a good thing this didn’t come out years ago, or the Wolverines would have lost many recruits to a more easygoing and compassionate rival coach like Woody Hayes.”