Joe DiMaggio
On June 9, the Yankees made a brief stop in Kansas City for an exhibition game (yes, Joe got a hit) and continued on to Chicago for what was to be a three-game series.
That “off” day, Time magazine hit the newsstands with Benito Mussolini on its cover. Life magazine came out that morning featuring an interview with Adolf Hitler. As the Germans’ assault on the Soviet Union reached Kiev and Leningrad, the top headline in the New York Times talked about the Yankees blasting seven home runs in their doubleheader sweep.
The second deck of the headline read: “DiMaggio homers thrice.”
Throughout America, the approaching involvement of the United States in World War II was writing on the wall. Only The Streak—only the diversion that was Joe DiMaggio—seemed to keep the nation’s mind off the inevitable. At least that was something positive and exciting to talk about.
On June 10, in an 8-3 victory over the White Sox, DiMaggio almost was stopped at 24.
Up 5-0 heading into the seventh, Joe was hitless in three trips.
Johnny Rigney, who later would marry Sox owner Charlie Comiskey’s daughter, was still on the mound. Scoreless through five, he had just coughed up five runs in the sixth—but he got past DiMaggio.
Rigney liked to start people off with a fastball. Everybody knew it. DiMaggio was a prolific first-ball hitter. Joe was looking dead red. This could be his last chance up, he probably thought.
Rigney rocked and fired. DiMaggio put that seamless swing on the heater and hit a rocket at third, where stood his old friend from his North Beach days, Dario Lodigiani.
The ball skipped in front of Lodigiani and hit him square in the chest. Upon knocking it down, DiMaggio’s ol’ pal scrambled for the pellet and fired to first.
“Safe!” came the call from first-base umpire Steve Basil. Safe by a whisker. All eyes turned to the scoreboard.
“HIT,” flashed the board.
The Streak was at 25. The nation—and the chilly, rain-soaked 2,800 in attendance—exhaled in relief.
The Yanks had won four in a row, still four games out of first, but put the White Sox a game behind them. Chicago would stay in New York’s rear-view mirror the rest of the season.
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