US saddened but not surprised

The US is in mourning at the death of one of its baseball greats, Joe DiMaggio, who has died at 84 at his home in Hollywood, Florida.

The news of his death resulting from lung cancer has dominated news programmes and tributes to the baseball legend have been pouring in even though he retired from the game as far back as 1951. The tributes emphasised his class, modesty and sportsmanship as much as his extraordinary sporting feats for the New York Yankees.

Yogi Berra, DiMaggio's team-mate from 1947 to 1951 on the dominant Yankees franchise of that era, said: "He was a loner most of the time. He did his own thing but he was a great ball player, that's all I know."

New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner said he was "deeply saddened" by DiMaggio's death.

"Like his many fans across America, and indeed, around the world, the Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of Joe DiMaggio, one of our own and one of the greatest of all time," Steinbrenner said in a statement. "It was the class and dignity with which he led his life that made him part of all of us."

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig offered condolences to the DiMaggio family.

"All of baseball is deeply saddened by the passing of the Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio," Selig said in a statement. "For several generations of fans, Joe was the personification of grace, class and dignity on the baseball diamond.

"In many respects, as an immigrant's son, he represented the hopes and ideals of our great country," said Selig, referring to DiMaggio's Italian-American heritage.

DiMaggio displayed grace at the plate and great defensive qualities at centre field, leading the New York Yankees in 10 World Series, winning nine of them. He retired in 1951 and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

DiMaggio's record "streak" in 1941, when he got a hit in 56 consecutive games, still stands. He expressed surprise in 1991 that 50 years later it was still standing. During that time he was usually introduced as "the greatest living player".

Hid death comes just a month short of the opening of the baseball season when fans had been hoping that he would throw the ceremonial first ball at the Yankee stadium. Steinbrenner said yesterday that he visited DiMaggio five days ago to remind him of the invitation but "he just smiled".

His marriage in 1954 to Monroe could be counted as his only failure. It had lasted only nine months when DiMaggio filed for divorce on grounds of "mental cruelty" and "conflict of careers". He was said to be devastated and never spoke publicly about his life with Monroe.

Joe DiMaggio was born on November 25th, 1914, in San Francisco to poor Sicilian immigrant parents. His father was a fisherman and this led to the mention in Hemingway's novel. During the war he served three years in the army air force teaching baseball. After a series of injuries he retired at the age of 37.

In retirement, Americans used to see DiMaggio appearing in commercials for a coffee maker. He was often invited to appear at big baseball games and at celebrity functions, including at the White House.

He is survived by a son from his first marriage to actress Dorothy Arnold, a brother and numerous grandchildren.