Joe Dimaggio

This "roar of the crowd" stuff is vastly overrated.This weekend, Major League Baseball named a 30-member All-Century team as voted on by fans and a panel of experts. After studying the results, all we can say is: Aah, what do they know?You see, The Sun asked its own distinguished group of voters -- columnist George F. Will, broadcaster Bob Costas, Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell, sportswriters Dave Kindred and Christine Brennan and Sun publisher and long-time fan Michael E. Waller -- for their selections.

150 years ago in The SunApril 11, 1849 -- There are a large number of persons in New York City who started for California via the Isthmus; but having reached Panama, and finding no conveyance to San Francisco, and no prospect of getting up while their funds lasted, they turned their faces homeward. The Herald says that these disappointed gold hunters number about seventy. 100 years ago in The SunApril 12, 1899 -- At the stockholders' meeting of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company yesterday formal action was taken to return to the corporation the property which has been in the hands of the court under the receivership since February 28, 1896.

Blue Jays: Outfielder Shannon Stewart missed his sixth straight game with a right ankle injury and may not play again this season. Tony Fernandez returned to the lineup after missing Sunday's game with a sore right knee.Devil Rays: Jose Canseco has three homers and 23 RBIs in 28 games since his return from back surgery. Infielder Tony Graffanino missed the game with a mild hamstring injury.Royals: Carlos Beltran needs nine hits in his final five games to become the fourth rookie in history to collect 200 hits, 100 RBIs and 100 runs.

Joe DiMaggio, who died at 84 yesterday, was a mythical figure, a living legend whose impact on American culture was noted by artists from Ernest Hemingway to Paul Simon.But his impact could be seen just as clearly in the experiences of everyday people, from those who played with him, to those who shared his name, to those who will never forget just passing him in a crowd.Catching greatnessDel Wilber remembers being nervous behind the plate, playing catcher, when Joe DiMaggio stepped silently into the batter's box.DiMaggio never spoke, never jaw-jabbed with the catcher.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, whose classic swing and classy persona made him one of the most revered sports figures of the 20th century, died early yesterday after a five-month battle with lung cancer. He was 84.Mr. DiMaggio passed away at his Hollywood, Fla., home from complications after the removal of a cancerous tumor from his lung last October. His funeral will be Thursday in Northern California, with burial in the San Francisco area, where he grew up and began his professional baseball career.

BOSTON -- I hope he will forgive another intrusion. There's been quite enough speculation on Joe DiMaggio's health already.The baseball great, who awoke from a coma last month to discover his doctors supplying updates for a media death watch, was appalled. This is not the sort of fame that the Hall of Famer wanted.If rumors of his death were premature, so were recent reports of it. When a news bulletin accidentally crawled across the bottom of a "Dateline NBC" report announcing his demise, Mr. DiMaggio was sitting in a chair watching his life flash before his eyes.

ON THE wall of fame at Enrico's Sports Bar, Haven and Pratt streets, in Highlandtown, there are photographs of all the great ones owner Bud Paolino's met and treasured over the years, from Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey to Mimi DiPietro and Du Burns to Charley Eckman and Pope John Paul II.But three of the old black-and-white pictures stand out: Joe DiMaggio in his glory, in his famous widespread eating stance, never breaking stride, devouring steamed crabs...

JUST THINK what Joe DiMaggio would have accomplished if he'd played more than 13 seasons in the Bigs.World War II came along. Like Ted Williams and other stars of his generation, he served his nation as a soldier. Exploiting his exceptional skills, earning the adoration of multitudes, entertaining a nation, would wait.Even missing three seasons that could have been his best, Joe DiMaggio compiled a lifetime batting average of .325, led the American League in home runs twice, in runs-batted-in twice, in batting average twice and was its most valuable player thrice.

Quote: "The Bronx Bombers proved themselves to be America's greatest team. I'm awful glad [Joe DiMaggio] was able to see one last great Yankees season." -- President Clinton, who honored the '98 World Series champion Yankees at the White House yesterday.It's a fact: Ken Griffey's 487-foot, bases-empty homer in the fourth inning of Wednesday's 16-11 Mariners loss to the Rockies was the sixth longest in the history of Coors Field.Who's hot: Mark McGwire's 19th homer in Wednesday's loss in Kansas City was the 476th of his career, moving him past Willie Stargell and Stan Musial into 16th place on the all-time list.

Throw your best stuff, Richard Ben Cramer, you with the Pulitzer Prize and the big book contract. Bring on the face-high fastball, or maybe the wicked curve that always buckles their knees.This isn't covering the Afghanistan war, you know. This this isn't chasing presidential candidate Bob Dole -- "the Bobster," you tagged him -- through the snows of New Hampshire. This time you have taken on Joe DiMaggio, and the great DiMaggio never loses. You said so yourself."It didn't matter what game he was in, he was the best player on the field, and he was going to beat you somehow," Cramer says.

Prime 9 6 p.m. [MLB Network] The new channel's show picking all-time top nines runs consecutive programs on best center fielders and top home runs. I haven't seen either yet, but I'll go with Willie Mays and Bobby Thomson. You say Joe DiMaggio (left) and Bill Mazeroski. Or maybe Ken Griffey Jr. and Kirk Gibson. In any case, you can argue with your television from 6 to 7.

Energy drinks charged into the U.S. market in 1997 with Red Bull and its claim: "Improves performance ... increased concentration ... stimulates the metabolism." At 66.7 milligrams of caffeine per 8.3-ounce can, that would be a mere blip in the bold new world of energy drinks. A cup of coffee, by contrast, has 107.5 milligrams. Today, provocative handles like Cocaine (since changed to No Name, owing to a 2007 Food and Drug Administration ruling against naming a product after an illegal drug)

ELECTED BY BBWAA PLAYERS Hank Aaron, 1982 Luis Aparicio, 1984 Luke Appling, 1964 Ernie Banks, 1977 Johnny Bench, 1989 Yogi Berra, 1972 Wade Boggs, 2005 Lou Boudreau, 1970 George Brett, 1999 Lou Brock, 1985 Roy Campanella, 1969 Rod Carew, 1991 Gary Carter, 2003 Roberto Clemente, 1973 Ty Cobb, 1936 Mickey Cochrane, 1947 Eddie Collins, 1939 Joe Cronin, 1956 Bill Dickey, 1954 Joe DiMaggio, 1955 Carlton Fisk, 2000 Jimmie Foxx, 1951 ...

Good morning -- Joe Gibbs -- Back in the playoffs after all these years and you've still got to go up against a quarterback named Simms. Question of the day Will Texas quarterback Vince Young be successful in the NFL? Selected responses to today's question will be printed Tuesday on The Kickoff page. Please e-mail your answer (about 25 words) to sports@baltsun.com by 3 p.m.Monday. Include your name, address and a daytime telephone number for verification purposes. THEY SAID IT "No guts, no glory."

Several hundred folks embarked on a treasure hunt inside the B&O Railroad Museum, but not for train-related artifacts. This hunt the 2005 Annual Benefit & Auction for the Believe in Tomorrow National Childrens Foundation was for sports and entertainment memorabilia. About 100 items signed by the likes of Tony Bennett, Hootie and the Blowfish, Robin Williams, Shaquille ONeal and Johnny Unitas were up for grabs. "We've got a pretty rare Joe DiMaggio [autographed] baseball and a signed Ted Williams jersey," said foundation founder/director Brian Morrison.

THE EXAMPLE of Pat Tillman, who turned down a $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist as an Army private and who died last month fighting in Afghanistan, is more than a story of one man's exceptional sacrifice: It is a story of one nation's loss of its moral compass. In World War II, the historian (and ex-Marine) William Manchester recalled, "everybody who was fit went." Sports heroes went - Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Joe Louis. Entertainers and movie stars went - Red Skelton, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Glenn Miller.

IMAGINE. A LEAGUE full of Ichiros. Baseball back to its small-ball roots. Slap-hitting. Hit and run. Hitting in 56-game streaks like the Yankee Clipper - Joe DiMaggio - and hitting for average, like the Splendid Splinter - Ted Williams. Do you think the Splinter was a BALCO customer? Can a Splinter be juiced? Imagine gap-hitting. Base stealing. Suicide squeezes. Imagine the acumen of a manager not waiting for the three-run bomb to break open the game. Imagine the battle cry: Hit 'em where they ain't, just like Wee Willie Keeler used to say. And let's not forget that 100-year-old weapon of offensive production, the Baltimore Chop.

Summer Hymns, a countrified-rock band from Athens, Ga., recently released a brilliant record titled Clemency. On it is a song called "Pete Rose Affinity," the tale of singer Zachary Gresham's youthful quest to nab an autograph from Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader. "When I was a little boy," sings Gresham, "I tried to con an autograph at the Fulton County Stadium/ with the Braves against the Cincinnati Reds/ Pete Rose was the object of my affinity/ I wanted to pretend I'd lost an arm to some kind of ailment/ I tucked it in my sleeve."

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, by Jane Leavy. HarperCollins. 304 pages. $23.95. Among Jews of my baby-boom generation, baseball's Sandy Koufax was a kind of inside joke. Among ourselves, we kvelled over him. But, if a gentile friend mentioned the Dodgers' glorious lefty and his religious heritage, we were apt to strike a nonchalant pose and say, "Koufax? Uh, yeah, he's probably one of the better Jewish ballplayers." As if. As if there were hundreds of others, past and present. As if we could hold aloft Hank Greenberg and Al Rosen and simply keep going forever, instead of digging for the likes of Mike Epstein and Ron Bloomberg and Rod Carew, who was never actually a Jew but at least married one. When you're this desperate for role models, close counts.

SAN FRANCISCO - By noon yesterday, the fog had lifted off China Basin, revealing the stunning skyline of a real American city. And in that breathtaking vista is one of the most unique, charismatic ballparks in baseball - a place where one of the oldest teams in the major leagues plays. Ah, such glory. A classic setting for the potential evolution of a classic World Series. With its unique right-field "splash" wall and its quirky and intentionally asymmetric design, Pacific Bell Park is only the latest, greatest thing about San Francisco, home of the Giants since 1958.