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Featured review
More of a Continuance of the First Review Posted
I enjoyed this film, as a big DiMaggio admirer.
As something of a student of his life (having written papers in school and acquainted myself with aspects of the man when possible), I reinforce its authenticity.
I wouldn't call it "unusual," as it's based on what the producers uncovered. The fact that the film "tends to paint him in less than glowing terms," is because that's who he was. I don't believe it's surprising that an athlete who was kind of a douche became a national treasure.
He was a fabulous, inspirational, and dependable ballplayer. Beloved to fans, and not well liked by many teammates and contemporaries. However, he was absolutely respected, and teammates loved being on his squad, as they road the train he conducted to championships.
But he wasn't warm and fuzzy and didn't make friends easily. He held people accountable, was blunt with assessment and lacked empathy.
I read a book about the Yankees during the DiMaggio years, through the Mantle years. Much of the Yankee "cardinal rules, " like being clean shaved, and accountability they still have today. Are holdovers from the DiMaggio years. That's the way he handled himself, and what he demanded of the other players. And if a teammate didn't fall in line, or he upset Joe...you bet he was gone. Not a warm atmosphere, but when you win....nobody cares.
Enter Mantle, who was a hard partier, good ol' boy from Oklahoma. He'd never met a stranger, was friendly and polite to a fault, but not always at his best, although even at 75% he was better than most on the field. Joe liked Mantle because boy the kid could play...and Joe wanted to win. But he would shake his head at him when he appeared late for batting practice, reeking of alcohol and cigarettes. Mantle got away with much, that few others would during Joe's watch. And they only crossed over for a few years and Joe retired, ushering in the fun times of Mantle, Whitey Ford, and company. The rules of being a Yankee still mattered and do today, and even those boys followed them for the most part. But during the DiMaggio era, he was not a lot of fun at parties, shall we say.
What he was, and did, is play a game the way it was supposed to be played. At the time, baseball was the "American Pastime," and its stars were some of the biggest and most recognizable celebrities in the world.
All that mattered in sports was boxing, horse racing, and baseball...and he was bigger than life.
Playing in New York was a huge factor. Imagine Derek Jeter, exactly the same...but the game Jeter played was as important to average Americans as the NFL, your favorite college team, your cousin Mitch, and the MLB put together! There's not any celebrity today that even compares to the level, at least not in the United States. A really solid example would be the way soccer/futbol stars are revered in Europe, South America and elsewhere. The level of fame that Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi....especially David Beckham, about a decade ago....that's very comparable to what DiMaggio meant to the nation.
As with the president's office, as we've seen from Clinton and others that the media has no "gentleman's agreement," and will crucify a president in the press if given the chance. The same now goes for baseball.
If, in DiMaggio's height of fame, he had popped positive for performance- enhancing drugs, it's more likely than not, that the media would have swept it under the rug.
For one, it was mostly local media, as in that time national media was minimal. So the beat writers that still exist today, and are given a hard time in most American cities with a sports team, for being "homers," and "kissing butt of the GM's. and players" That's the only type of media that was in existence at this time. So these guys were his biggest fans, and he was nice to them.
In many ways, DiMaggio did have social graces, but unless he needed you or he had good reason....or you were a fan approaching him when he was in the mood, he had no reason to be pleasant...at least that was how he is reported to have been. He knew who to be pleasant to, and who didn't matter. Imagine the guy at work who acts like "Mr. Team," who never misses a chance to compliment the boss and acts like the best and most helpful employee and co-worker, when the boss is around. Contrariwise, when the boss isn't, he's a backstabbing liar who is lazy and acts superior. None of his co-workers can stand him....but sure enough, he climbs the ladder because he's so self-serving and management is full of obtuse imbeciles. ;) That's DiMaggio.
I love him as a player, if he were here today I'd give my pinkie finger to shake the man's hand. But he was a dick, and he knew it and he didn't care.
It's a great film, makes me admire his play no less. He's human just like me....he puts his pants on one leg at a time....only once on, he could get a hit in 47 straight ;). But it's nice to see our legends humanized in some ways. I'm 37, so maybe if I grew up admiring him from childhood I may feel different. But overall, I'm forgiving, as I have been forgiven for much and don't fault anyone for doing the best they can at life. It would be hard, and take a huge fall from grace for a man like DiMaggio to reflect and consider changing. Don't judge him, but enjoy his incredible career, and don't throw stones at glass houses.
As something of a student of his life (having written papers in school and acquainted myself with aspects of the man when possible), I reinforce its authenticity.
I wouldn't call it "unusual," as it's based on what the producers uncovered. The fact that the film "tends to paint him in less than glowing terms," is because that's who he was. I don't believe it's surprising that an athlete who was kind of a douche became a national treasure.
He was a fabulous, inspirational, and dependable ballplayer. Beloved to fans, and not well liked by many teammates and contemporaries. However, he was absolutely respected, and teammates loved being on his squad, as they road the train he conducted to championships.
But he wasn't warm and fuzzy and didn't make friends easily. He held people accountable, was blunt with assessment and lacked empathy.
I read a book about the Yankees during the DiMaggio years, through the Mantle years. Much of the Yankee "cardinal rules, " like being clean shaved, and accountability they still have today. Are holdovers from the DiMaggio years. That's the way he handled himself, and what he demanded of the other players. And if a teammate didn't fall in line, or he upset Joe...you bet he was gone. Not a warm atmosphere, but when you win....nobody cares.
Enter Mantle, who was a hard partier, good ol' boy from Oklahoma. He'd never met a stranger, was friendly and polite to a fault, but not always at his best, although even at 75% he was better than most on the field. Joe liked Mantle because boy the kid could play...and Joe wanted to win. But he would shake his head at him when he appeared late for batting practice, reeking of alcohol and cigarettes. Mantle got away with much, that few others would during Joe's watch. And they only crossed over for a few years and Joe retired, ushering in the fun times of Mantle, Whitey Ford, and company. The rules of being a Yankee still mattered and do today, and even those boys followed them for the most part. But during the DiMaggio era, he was not a lot of fun at parties, shall we say.
What he was, and did, is play a game the way it was supposed to be played. At the time, baseball was the "American Pastime," and its stars were some of the biggest and most recognizable celebrities in the world.
All that mattered in sports was boxing, horse racing, and baseball...and he was bigger than life.
Playing in New York was a huge factor. Imagine Derek Jeter, exactly the same...but the game Jeter played was as important to average Americans as the NFL, your favorite college team, your cousin Mitch, and the MLB put together! There's not any celebrity today that even compares to the level, at least not in the United States. A really solid example would be the way soccer/futbol stars are revered in Europe, South America and elsewhere. The level of fame that Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi....especially David Beckham, about a decade ago....that's very comparable to what DiMaggio meant to the nation.
As with the president's office, as we've seen from Clinton and others that the media has no "gentleman's agreement," and will crucify a president in the press if given the chance. The same now goes for baseball.
If, in DiMaggio's height of fame, he had popped positive for performance- enhancing drugs, it's more likely than not, that the media would have swept it under the rug.
For one, it was mostly local media, as in that time national media was minimal. So the beat writers that still exist today, and are given a hard time in most American cities with a sports team, for being "homers," and "kissing butt of the GM's. and players" That's the only type of media that was in existence at this time. So these guys were his biggest fans, and he was nice to them.
In many ways, DiMaggio did have social graces, but unless he needed you or he had good reason....or you were a fan approaching him when he was in the mood, he had no reason to be pleasant...at least that was how he is reported to have been. He knew who to be pleasant to, and who didn't matter. Imagine the guy at work who acts like "Mr. Team," who never misses a chance to compliment the boss and acts like the best and most helpful employee and co-worker, when the boss is around. Contrariwise, when the boss isn't, he's a backstabbing liar who is lazy and acts superior. None of his co-workers can stand him....but sure enough, he climbs the ladder because he's so self-serving and management is full of obtuse imbeciles. ;) That's DiMaggio.
I love him as a player, if he were here today I'd give my pinkie finger to shake the man's hand. But he was a dick, and he knew it and he didn't care.
It's a great film, makes me admire his play no less. He's human just like me....he puts his pants on one leg at a time....only once on, he could get a hit in 47 straight ;). But it's nice to see our legends humanized in some ways. I'm 37, so maybe if I grew up admiring him from childhood I may feel different. But overall, I'm forgiving, as I have been forgiven for much and don't fault anyone for doing the best they can at life. It would be hard, and take a huge fall from grace for a man like DiMaggio to reflect and consider changing. Don't judge him, but enjoy his incredible career, and don't throw stones at glass houses.
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- Theboardrider
- Oct 31, 2015
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