Baseball, ace Di Maggio and Marylin: an exhibition at Isola delle Femmine

Joe Di Maggio: a baseball myth. He played in the NY Yankees, in Mlb, from May 3, 1936 to September 30, 1951: 15 seasons, 2214 valid, 361 home runs for 9 World Series, 3 times Mvp and 13 times in the All Star Game. And a record like that of matches with at least one valid: 56. Born in Martinez (California) on 25 November 1914 as Giuseppe Paolo Di Maggio, he died in Hollywood on 8 March 1999. Isola delle Femmine, in Sicily, dedicates a exhibition: “Joe Di Maggio in the heart of the islanders on the anniversary of his death”. An exhibition set up in the Joe Di Maggio House Museum in via Cutino 14, in Isola delle Femmine, just outside Palermo. The exhibition, with free admission, will be open to the public on March 8 and then on 12 and 13, from 10 to 13. Among the photos on display, those of Marilyn Monroe, the Hollywood diva who married the king of baseball. Son of Rosalia Mercurio (mender of fishing nets) and Giuseppe Di Maggio, fisherman, who got dirty in Isola delle Femmine on 9 December 1897. After the birth of their eldest daughter, Adriana, the couple moved in 1902 to Martinez, a few kilometers from San Francisco, where they bring eight more children into the world. On November 25, 1914, Joe was born, who in 1931 began playing with the San Francisco Seals where he remained for four seasons, the turning point came on November 21, 1934, on the eve of his 20 years, when he was sold to the New York Yankees, the team where he will remain. until 1951.

Two marriages

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Joe Di Maggio will marry twice: in 1939 with actress Dorothy Arnold (the union will give birth to Joe Di Maggio jr, the champion’s only child). The union lasted until 1943. On January 14, 1954 Joe married Marilyn Monroe, from whom he divorced within a year. In August 1962, when Marylin dies in mysterious circumstances, Di Maggio organizes her funeral paying all the expenses and for more than thirty years he will have a bouquet of red roses delivered to her grave, three times a week. In August 1955 Joe is in Rome and decides to visit his parents’ country of origin. He arrives in Isola delle Femmine in the early afternoon and looks for the mayor who, surprised by him, has his own surname: Di Maggio. The mayor tells him the story of the family. 38 years pass since the first visit and on April 20, 1993, at the age of 78, Joe is back in Rome, as a representative of the Italy-America Federation, and announces that five days later he will be in his country of origin to receive the honorary citizenship, but an illness prevents him from flying to Sicily. Forever in his heart.