Thursday, February 13, 2014

Continued; The top all-time Coolest Yankees... Numbers 4 and 3

“Secrets...are the very root of cool. - William Gibson, Spook Country.

Who are the all-time coolest Yankees? Going down to the wire:

No. 4. Babe Ruth: American icon; boozer, womanizer, brawler, binge-eater; over-indulger of everything sinful, who then compensated through work with sick children; inspired 1) "The House that Ruth Built," 2) Baby Ruth candy bar, 3) the Babe Ruth League, 4) the word "Ruthian," 5) more biographies than any other ballplayer in history; in 1930s had two network radio programs The Adventures of Babe Ruth and Here's Babe Ruth; appeared in several movies, silent and talkies, including Pride of the Yankees, in which he lost 40 pounds to play himself; joked with presidents and world leaders; during WWII, Japanese soldiers said to yell, "To hell with Babe Ruth!" to piss off Americans; voted greatest player ever; married twice;  "The Bambino," "The Sultan of Swat;" did and said whatever the hell he wanted; and whatever the hell he did or said automatically defined cool.


3. Joe DiMaggio: "The Yankee Clipper;" dad was fisherman from Italy, processed at Ellis Island, later put on U.S. government list as potential WWII enemy; set Pacific Coast League record by hitting in 61 consecutive games; pictured on cover of first SPORT Magazine; robbed of many HRs due to Yankee Stadium contours; Al Gionfriddo's famous catch would have been gone anywhere else; in 56 game hitting streak scored 56 runs and would have had 56 RBIs but for base-running error; spent 1943 in military and made Sergeant; married stunning Hollywood starlet Dorothy Arnold; dated Lee Meriwether, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria De Haven, Morgan Fairchild, a Miss America, and half female population of San Francisco; friend of Bob Hope and many stars; sold Mr. Coffee machines; smoked like chimney; NYC  West Side Highway named in his honor; face on 2011 U.S. Postage Stamp; mythic figure in Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea; mentioned by Billy Joel in We Didn't Start the Fire; too many TV show references to list; married somebody named Marilyn Monroe for 274 days; loved her to the end; many - including Bob Hope - believed he was her last hope for salvation; or as Paul Simon put it: "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you." That's effing cool.


Tomorrow: Number 2 and Number 1. The All-Time Coolest Ever Yankees.

Care to guess?

8 comments:

KD said...

I think you have Boomer at No. 2.

Stang said...

Shane Spencer? Ron Hassey?

Leinstery said...

Graeme Lloyd.

I'm Bill White said...

Darryl Strawberry and Ron Hassey.

jrs said...

Ricky Henderson
Reggie Jackson

Celerino Sanchez said...

I hope Joe Pepitone is up there

el duque said...

Joe's already been noted. Scroll down.

JM said...

Hey, what about Joe Pepitone?

Just kidding...couldn't resist...