May 3, 1936: Joe DiMaggio's 1st Major League Game

May 3, 1936: Joe DiMaggio plays his 1st major league game. Although he was only 21 years old, it was a long time in coming.

In 1933, playing for his hometown team, the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, he had a 61-game hitting streak. In the 1934 season, he suffered a knee injury, and that scared off every team in the major leagues, except the New York Yankees. They bought his contract, on the condition that he be allowed to play the 1935 season with the Seals, before joining the Yankees in 1936.

This was a good idea on the Yankees' part. Not only would it allow him to fully come back from his injury in his hometown, with his established teammates, but it generated goodwill, allowing the Yankees' already-good relationship with the PCL to continue. They'd already signed West Coast players Tony Lazzeri, Lefty Gomez, Frank Crosetti and Myril Hoag; and would go on to sign Joe Gordon and Monte Pearson. This kind of thing is rarely done outside of European soccer, where prospects are sometimes loaned back to the team that produced them.

DiMaggio's debut was further delayed by a foot injury sustained in Spring Training in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Yankees played their 1st 17 games that season without him -- winning 11 of them.

On this day, they took the field at Yankee Stadium, against the St. Louis Browns, with DiMaggio playing center field, batting 3rd, and wearing Number 9.

The Browns jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Gomez in the top of the 1st. The Yankees immediately responded against Browns pitcher Jack Knott. Crosetti hit a triple, and Red Rolfe drew a walk. In his 1st major league plate appearance, DiMaggio hit a grounder to Browns 3rd baseman Harlond Clift. He made the smart play: Throw to home plate, to get the lead runner, and possibly start a double play. But catcher Rollie Hemsley dropped the ball, and everybody, including DiMaggio, was safe. The Yankees ended up scoring 4 runs in the inning.

DiMaggio batted again in the 2nd, singled, and later scored. He batted again in the 4th, and struck out. Rolfe led off the bottom of the 6th with a double, and DiMaggio got his 1st major league hit and his 1st major league run batted in, a triple that scored Rolfe. He scored himself on a single by Lou Gehrig.

He popped up leading off the 7th, and singled in the 8th. He finished 3-for-6 with an RBI. He also made 6 putouts without an error. The Yankees won the game, 14-5, getting 17 hits, none of them home runs. Ray Pepper of the Browns hit a home run. It was a Sunday, so a crowd of 24,430 saw the milestone ballgame.

DiMaggio was off to a start worthy of a star. But, at this point, no one imagined that he would become the signature ballplayer of his generation. The following season, he would switch to Number 5, and earn his nickname "The Yankee Clipper." In 1941, he set a major league record with a 56-game hitting streak. He would win 3 American League Most Valuable Player awards, and helped the Yankees win 10 Pennants, going 9-1 in World Series play.

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As I said, May 3, 1936 was a Sunday. These other games were played that day in what would later be called Major League Baseball:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Manager and 1st baseman Bill Terry singled home the winning runs in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Wes Ferrell pitched a 2-hit shutout, his brother Rick Ferrell hit a home run, and Jimmie Foxx also hit a home run. Tiger slugger Hank Greenberg got hurt on April 29, and missed the rest of the season.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-4 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Nationals, 3-0 at Griffith Stadium. The game was shortened to 5 innings by rain.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Phils scored 3 runs in the top of the 12th inning.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Bees, 6-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The season before, the Boston Braves lost an atrocious 115 games, so for this season, they changed their name to the Bees, and the name of Braves Field to National League Park, nicknamed the Bee Hive. But the new names never stuck, and they reverted to the old names in 1941.