Remembering Sox great Dom DiMaggio

(NECN: Greg Wayland, Boston, Mass.) - Former Red Sox great Dom DiMaggio died at age 92 in the early morning hours on Friday in his Marion, Massachusetts home. A center fielder and leadoff hitter for the Boston Red Sox, DiMaggio played 10-plus years alongside teammates Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky. The Red Sox plan to pay tribute to DiMaggio with a moment of silence prior to Friday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. "You talk about Dominick, he was close to Bobby and Ted and Me," Pesky said. "We had that corner in the clubhouse and we spent a lot of time together. We talked a lot about baseball and life. We stayed great friends through the years." "Dominick is what you call the perfect player," Pesky said. "He ran very well, threw very well, he was a good hitter and a class guy -- very quiet, easy going." DiMaggio still holds the team's consecutive-game hitting streak record of 34 in 1949. He is the younger brother of New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, who holds Major League Baseball's consecutive-game hitting streak of 56. Pesky remembers DiMaggio for his friendship, just as much as his play on the field. "He was the ideal role model for a skinny kid with glasses who had no chance of becoming a high school player, let along a major league player," friend Dick Flavin said. "He was the greatest defensive outfielder in the history of the American League. To this day, he holds the record for most chances accepted per game -- he got to more balls than anyone else. In the years he played, he had more hits than anyone else in Major League Baseball -- more than Williams, more than Joe DiMaggio, more than Stan Musial." DiMaggio will live on as perhaps one of baseball's most underrated players, never having been inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. ***** <A HREF="http://www.necn.com/Boston/Sports/2009/05/08/Pesky-DiMaggio-was-the/1241810497.html" target="_blank"><b>Pesky: DiMaggio was 'the perfect player'</b></a>