DiMaggio plays on

Joe DiMaggio in retirement

The great but ailing Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, then 84 years old, receives his last rites 27 years ago today.

DiMaggio, though, prideful and stubborn to the end – and always one to live life on his terms – decides that, no, the greatest Hall of Famer of his generation is not quite ready to go and impressively recovers well enough to keep on living.

DiMaggio’s last rally comes 57 years after his record-setting hitting streak of 56 straight games for the New York Yankees in 1941.

Turns out that DiMaggio’s final streak – the one to extend his own life – lasts 86 straight days beyond what the attending doctors and priests predict on this day in 1998.

“There was an aura about him,” Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto says of his longtime friend New York Yankee teammate.

“He walked like no one else walked,” Rizzuto says. “He did things so easily. He was immaculate in everything he did. Kings of State wanted to meet him and be with him. He carried himself so well. He could fit in any place in the world.”

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