The DiMaggio family’s place in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is well-known, thanks to Joe and Dom DiMaggio.
But in 2020, there’s a distant cousin of the DiMaggios trying to write a new chapter with the Red Sox.
The News-Press reports Red Sox pitcher Chris Mazza, who is with Boston at spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., is a blood relative of the DiMaggios.
“I was 9 years old and we were watching ESPN Classic and they were talking about the 56-game hitting streak and all of the sudden my brother goes, ‘You know that’s our cousin, right?’” Mazza recalled. “And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he told me he was our grandmother’s cousin and then after that, I started learning more about Dom and Vince (Joe’s brothers, who both were big-league outfielders as well). I mean Dom played (with the Red Sox) for 14 years (1940-42, 1946-53), and I didn’t realize that. He had a really good career as well. … Our family is so big in the Bay Area. I’ve got cousins everywhere. I went to high school with cousins who I didn’t even know were my cousins. All of the sudden, I’d see them at a family reunion and I’d be like, ‘What are you doing here?’ and they’d say, ‘This is my family reunion.’ My dad was one of five and his mom and dad were one of five, you know those big Italian Roman Catholic families. You grow up in a family with lots of kids and then you get married and you have a lot of kids. The DiMaggios and Mazzas were big in that area. There were so many of us, it’s hard to be close with everyone, especially ones that live on the other coast (like Joe DiMaggio did).”
Like the DiMaggios, the 30-year-old Mazza is a California native. Mazza, who started his 2019 season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and Syracuse Mets, went on to make his MLB debut with the New York Mets last year as well, going 1-1 with a 5.51 ERA in nine relief appearances. The Red Sox grabbed Mazza off waivers from the Mets in December.
According to the News-Press, Mazza said he was a Yankees fan during his childhood. But that won’t be a problem for him while with at Red Sox spring training. “All of us here grew up fans of another team and probably weren’t Red Sox fans growing up,” he said, per the News-Press. “Once you get here, you’re just a baseball fan. You can always still like certain organizations but the main thing is whatever team you’re playing for, that’s the team you root for. Whoever wants to give me a uniform, that’s my favorite team.”
Mazza has some big shoes to fill if he is to live up to the DiMaggio legacy.
Younger brother Dom DiMaggio played 11 seasons for the Red Sox (both brothers missed three seasons because of World War II). He was a seven-time All-Star with a lifetime .298 batting average.
Joe DiMaggio, two years older than Dom, is nothing short of a legend. He played 13 seasons for the Yankees and was an All-Star each year. DiMaggio was a three-time American League MVP and nine-time World Series champion. He retired with a lifetime .325 batting average and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. And Derek Jeter fans, take note: DiMaggio went into the Hall after receiving 88.8% of the votes … in his FOURTH year on the ballot.
The original article written by Mike Rosenstein can be found here: https://www.syracuse.com/sports/2020/03/yankees-legend-joe-dimaggios-cousin-a-former-syracuse-met-now-plays-for-the-red-sox.html