Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

DiMaggio and Williams were rather inaccessible to the public for different reasons. Sure, you could fork out your C-note and meet them at a show, but those few seconds weren't much in the way of accessibility.

DiMaggio was private and not a people person. This was true of him his entire life. While his caliber of play was endearing, his personality could never be.

Williams was crass, outspoken, and so ridiculously egotistical (DiMaggio had his own ego battles, but not in the same way). The press didn't really care for him and I'm sure a lot of that negative coverage seeped in to public perception.

Then, we compare to the popular guys:

Mantle could be crass, rude, grouchy and cantankerous, but his Jekyll and Hyde demeanor might also make him kind, hilarious, endearing and lovable. Yes, the later fans usually had to pay for the experience, but we have heard so many positive Mick stories as compared to Williams and Joe D. His injuries, pain and battle with the bottle made his mythos all that more human and relatable. While people could be impressed by Joe being married to Marylin, they could hardly relate to that on a personal level. Many could understand being hung over on a Sunday morning, doing something they might not really be wanting to do, be it playing 9 innings or hawking autographs to pay the bills.

Babe Ruth...no explanation needed. We all understand why, in spite of the fact that practically none of us were around to witness this ball of contradiction! Also, see the last sentence for Mantle above, then couple it with signing who knows how many autographs day in and day out, mostly for no pay at all! I was fortunate to know many who played with and against Babe; not a single one ever tired of talking about him, even decades after the fact. There has never been, nor will ever be, a more beloved player in history.

Lou Gehrig. He was kind, humble, and oh so human. The same players I knew who would go on at length about Babe didn't usually offer too much on Gehrig, other than he was a nice man to talk to and easy to be around. They weren't in awe of him, seemingly. My guess would be that it was due to his humility. Couple that genuine and decent personality with his career, then the disease which felled him, and you have a perpetual winner both in the hobby and the world at large. We all suffer tragedies; even the strongest and seemingly most unstoppable of us. This man's story will never fade away and is so sadly made personally relatable every time someone else is diagnosed with ALS.

I feel like accessibility and being relatable to the masses are the key takeaways. If you're so high on your mountain that you forget to pat the heads of the little people, they tend to turn to those that did.