A Clipper Chronology

Nov. 25, 1914
Joseph Paul DiMaggio is born in Martinez, Calif. , the eighth of what will be nine children of Giuseppe and Rosalie DiMaggio, a Sicilian couple who immigrated to America around the turn of the century.

Fall 1931
The 16-year-old DiMaggio drops out of Galileo High to take a job at an orange-juice bottling plant, which he later describes as "a lousy way to make a living." He quits the plant and, after doing odd jobs for a while, devotes most of his time to playing baseball in a parking lot near the wharves.

March 1932
Older brother Vince makes the roster of the minor league San Francisco Seals . When a shortstop is needed late in the season, Vince recommends Joe, who had moved on to local semipro ball.

November 1934
Seals owner Charlie Graham sells DiMaggio to the Yankees for $25,000, five players and a proviso that the 19-year-old centerfielder spend the 1935 season with San Francisco .

May 3, 1936
After missing the first two weeks of the season with an injured left ankle, DiMaggio goes 3 for 6 in his first game as New York routs the St. Louis Browns 14-5. He would hit 29 home runs for the season, still a Yankees rookie record.

July 7, 1936
At Boston 's Braves Field, DiMaggio becomes the first rookie to play in an All-Star Game.

July 1937
DiMaggio sets a major league record for homers in a month by banging out 15.

Nov. 19, 1939
DiMaggio marries actress Dorothy Arnold in San Francisco .

May 14, 1941
DiMaggio goes hitless in a 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians . He won't have another 0-fer for more than two months.

July 2, 1941
DiMaggio homers off Dick Newsome of the Boston Red Sox to extend his hitting streak to 45 games, breaking the major league record set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1897.