Today’s student is probably not familiar with the 1967 film “The Graduate.” The music for that film was written, as many know, by Paul Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkel. One of the more memorable songs from the film is titled “Mrs. Robinson,” one of the film’s two key characters (a married middle-aged woman who seduces a younger man into an affair). Simon included in the lyrics to “Mrs. Robinson” a homage to the late baseball great Joe DiMaggio, centerfielder for the New York Yankees. DiMaggio took umbrage at the use of his name in the lines from the song, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” Later, Simon explained that the lyrics were intended to honor this revered athlete. In an interview, the songwriter/performer said,
In the 50's and 60's, it was fashionable to refer to baseball as a metaphor for America, and DiMaggio represented the values of that America: excellence and fulfillment of duty (he often played in pain), combined with a grace that implied a purity of spirit, an off-the-field dignity and a jealously guarded private life.
Baseball has been used as a metaphor for American greatness in many films, including “Field of Dreams.” Baseball is also extremely popular throughout the Western Hemisphere, including in many Caribbean islands like Cuba and Dominican Republic. It was common for Cubans (and Venezuelans, Hondurans, and so on) to avidly follow American baseball every summer.
This lengthy preface to the question regarding Santiago’s affinity for baseball and for Joe DiMaggio in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is offered to illuminate the depth to which baseball was absorbed into the psyche and culture of millions of Hispanics. Early in Hemingway’s novel, the titular “old man,” Santiago, is discussing fishing with Manolin, his young apprentice. As they discuss the day’s agenda, the subject of baseball and Santiago’s reverence for DiMaggio is on display. In the following passage, the boy is departing on an errand, but, before he leaves, he asks Santiago to talk about baseball when he returns. The “old man” immediately trumpets his beloved Yankees:
“When I come back you can tell me about the baseball.”
“The Yankees cannot lose.”
“But I fear the Indians of Cleveland.”
“Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio.”
Later, after Manolin returns, he wastes no time asking for a conversation about baseball:
“Tell me about the baseball,” the boy asked him.
“In the American League it is the Yankees as I said,” the old man said happily.”
“They lost today,” the boy told him.
“That means nothing. The great DiMaggio is himself again.”
“They have other men on the team.”
“Naturally. But he makes the difference.”
. . .
“I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,” the old man said. “They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.”
Joe DiMaggio, in stark contrast to many of today’s professional sports stars, was a model of quiet dignity and grace. He was also one of the greatest to ever play the game. If one loved baseball, as does the main protagonist in The Old Man and the Sea, then one must respect the New York Yankees. In the era in which Hemingway’s story takes place, respecting the Yankees means respecting DiMaggio.
Santiago is desperately poor. His pursuit of the marlin defines him. He views himself as similar to his idol DiMaggio in his own quiet dignity and in his pursuit of perfection. Manolin could enjoy greater success as an apprentice to other fishermen, but his love for Santiago keeps him loyal to the old man. Their conversations about baseball helps define their relationship. Baseball, as it often does (or did), serves as a metaphor for innocence and greatness—precisely the qualities the boy sees in the man.
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