Brother Pinch-Hits for Joe DiMaggio
The brother of Joe DiMaggio expressed outrage Wednesday about legal threats by the late outfielder’s attorney over a proposal in San Francisco to name a neighborhood playground in honor of the Yankee legend.
Dom DiMaggio, himself a seven-time baseball All-Star, said he believes that his brother would have loved having a childhood ball field in their old North Beach neighborhood bear the DiMaggio name.
“We would chase fly balls all day long at the playground to practice our fielding,” Dom DiMaggio said in a news release. “I’m sure the territory we covered in that concrete playground helped me and my brother cover the center field grass of Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.”
Morris Engelberg, a Hollywood, Fla., attorney representing Joe DiMaggio’s grandchildren and other heirs, threatened the lawsuit in a recent letter to city officials, saying that he believes that the proposal is an insult to the baseball great. Engelberg suggested the Bay Bridge or San Francisco International Airport as more appropriate sites to honor DiMaggio. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
That threat of a lawsuit against the city, where the DiMaggio boys were raised, is “appalling and I don’t want my name associated with it,” Dom DiMaggio said.
“Engelberg has not consulted with me about this city’s proposal,” said DiMaggio, who played center field for the Boston Red Sox. “He should be more careful when he professes to speak for the family.”
Dom DiMaggio, 84 and living in Ocean Ridge, Fla., also put in calls Wednesday to Mayor Willie Brown and other city officials to express his ire over Engelberg’s comments. Boosters of the proposal to put the Yankee Clipper’s name on the North Beach Playground, a vast expanse of pavement that includes a few basketball and tennis courts, were overjoyed that Dom DiMaggio had stepped into the fray.
“I know what a green light looks like, and this is a green light,” said Supervisor Gavin Newsom, who has pushed for the city to honor Joe DiMaggio since the center fielder’s death a year ago at age 84. “This is a great help.”
Dom DiMaggio said San Francisco has been “very good to my family, starting with my immigrant parents and continuing to this day.” He said the city should be allowed to determine how to honor his brother, without interference from Engelberg or the estate.
Although his brother was a private person who shunned publicity, Dom DiMaggio said, the late ballplayer would appreciate the city’s thoughtfulness. In addition, he would have been pleased if the honor would spur efforts “to modernize the playground for city kids who, you never know, might be future major leaguers.”
Newsom said city officials are thinking along the same lines, and could tap a $10-million park improvement fund to undertake the work. Moreover, he said that renaming the North Beach playground would be just the start. Officials also are considering putting DiMaggio’s name on a ball field in the Marina section of the city and another recreation area in Golden Gate Park. Other honors could follow.
“What Mr. Engelberg is missing is that renaming this playground wouldn’t be the end,” Newsom said. “This is in many respects the beginning of a process to recognize Joe DiMaggio.”