Joe DiMaggio played his first full year in professional baseball for the minor league team, the San Francisco Seals. DiMaggio had convinced the manager to let him fill in as shortstop. Although by all accounts he did a poor job as a shortstop, he was an outstanding hitter. Everyone believed that DiMaggio was on his way to the major leagues - until a fluke accident nearly crippled him.
In 1934, DiMaggio tore the ligaments in his left knee while going to his sister's house. The injury scared away most teams. The Chicago Cubs turned him down because they believed he would never fully recover. Only one scout, Bill Essick for the New York Yankees, was willing to give him a shot. When New York's farm-system director George Weiss suggested offering DiMaggio a contract, Yankees' general manager Ed Barrow told him, "This is exactly what you were hired not to do." However, Weiss persisted and, after DiMaggio passed medical inspections, he began his major league baseball career with the New York Yankees. Bill Terry, manager of the New York Giants, ridiculed Weiss for the deal, telling him, "You've bought yourself a cripple."
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio remained with the team for his entire major league career. During that time, he led the Yankees to nine titles in thirteen years, four of which were during his first four years with the team. When DiMaggio retired in 1951, he was ranked fifth for the most career home runs and sixth for the best slugging percentage.
"A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example." - J.D.
