The Washington times., 1936-04-10
Broadway
DarHngk
DiMqggio
Bv KIRK MILLER
Times Sports Editor

comes today to baseballs prize
starlet of 1886, Joe Di Maggie.
For the first time since he
has known that some day he
would be a member of the New
York Yankees, this buck
toothed lad, a typical sandlot
product, who presents a cross
section of the hordes Of kids this
country over who annually ap-
pear on corner lots in monde
script fittings and trappings Of
the sport, ambitious to make the
majors, sees the inside Of Yankee
Stadium, his home port.
Setting Holds His Fate y
Here will be the main setting
of his baseball fate. Here he will
either live up to and maybe sur
pass the predictions made for him
by those who have watched his
meteoric baseball development, or
here his baseball bloom will fade
and die, as the gods Of destiny
decide.
Di Maggie. pronounced "Dee-
mah-gee-oh" with the "g'' soft as
in regime" has been practically
q prisoner in his room on the
umpty-ninth floor of the hoStelry
which houses more baseball tran
sients than any in New York, for
several days, recovering from an
injured left instep.
It has been a self-imposed exile,
as he has wished to keep off the
member the better that it might
heal, so he can make his scheduled
bow in major league baseball in
Washington next Tuesday OF mid
afternoon.
The Stadium at Last
For nearly q week, therefor, he
has been a good patient, but to-
day, with the main troop OF yam
KEGS back from the South, where
they have been playing tag with
tornadoes, Di Maggie leaves the
overstuffed confinement Of his
perch high over New York, and
actually enters for the first time
the majestic reaches of the house
that Ruth built to mingle with his
team mates before going over to
Brooklyn where the Yankees meet
the Dodgers in the first Of three
day exhibition series.
His lob is to make the fans for
get the man for whom Yankee
Stadium is a monument. It is not
an easy task, particularly for a
STRIPPING of 81. Joe, therefore, Is
q sort Of "Jack and the Bean
stalk" character. He is dealing
with a giant job. His eyes are all
wonderment today as he beholdS
the grand canyon Of the Bronx.
And the Babylon which is Broad
way is already chattering OF this
boy Joe as it has resounded of no
ball player since Ruth. OF course,
Joe Louis, whose ascendancy post
dated Ruth's rise and fall, has
since had Manhattan talking to it.
self, but Joe Di Maggie is the
stems newest darling.
Broadway will tell you Di Maggie
has everything-youth, color, prom
Use. Broadway has many argu-
mentS to prove Joe Di Maggie IS
worth every one Of the SIS 900
which he cost Colonel Rupert in
cash and player hides.
Cardinal Hitting Virtues
Strolling the big street and
speaking casually Of baseball, you
learn from the populace that Di
Maggie has five cardinal virtues
as a hitter.
He bangs the ball to all fields.
He taps 'em over the heads Of the
outfielders. He is a natural hit
ter. He spanks ground balls
plumb through the infield, and,
while he sometimes hits late, he
hits fast and with splendid tim
ing.
Di Maggie, they will tell you,
has an easy batting poiSe. He
employs no waggle or paving OF
the air, but rather remains re-
laxed with the bat cooked on his
shoulder un!4l the pitch comes.
He's a fast ball hitter. Slow
balls are the more bother.
A Bulls Eye Pegger
Before his recent injury in the
South, he showed he had a great
pegging arm. He doubled a
would-be scorer, from second, on
the lone try he made from that
11pooo1-stnYnnd field
He is a SPLENDID judge Of fly
balls, striding after them with
fair speed. On the bases he is
a slow starter, but once under
way. fairly breezes.
The boy has not yet gotten
his growth. In condition he
weighs 200 pounds. but he is
framed for more, which would
give him even greater power with
a willow.
The regulars on the team like
him because he isn't fresh or
wise cracking. His disposition is
even and while he has lots of
confidence out on that field, in
the dugout he asks questions of
his elders and shows disposition
to learn.
The kid will go a long way
they tell you up here. Mean.
while next Tuesday Washington
will have a chance to judge for
itself, as the dope is that he'll
be in harness for the opener.
PaImers vs., Taverns