Q: Tell me how the deal with Joe DiMaggio for Home Shopping Network got started.
A: I received a call from an
operation out of Chicago that was acquiring the deal for Joe to sign 1941
bats. The 1941 were significant because in 1941 Joe DiMaggio had hit in 56
consecutive games, which is a record that is still held today. The fact that
Joe had not signed at that time, that many bats. His signed bats were sort of
a rare commodity. They asked me if I was interested, I was one of the
presidents of Home Shopping Network at the time, and was handling their
celebrity marketing division. I thought it was a great idea and said we would
commit to do it. At that time we had committed to pay $2,500 a bat. "Of
which, Joe DiMaggio was getting paid, $2000.00 a bat to sign. We retailed them
for $4000. We then signed the deal and I flew out to Louisville, Kentucky
where the bats were made at H&B, that’s the Hillary and Bragsme Bat 
Company.
The famous bat company that made all the bats at that time for the baseball
players. They had in their archives the original bat that was made
specifically for Joe DiMaggio. His weight and dimensions. That was the bat he
used in the 56 consecutive games he had his hitting streak in. We took that
bat, and burnt in and engraved in with his signature, and it was the genuine
Louisville Slugger, Joe DiMaggio bat. We put together a limited edition of a 1
through 1941 and Joe DiMaggio signed them. We were scheduled originally to
sign the bats in their conference room in front of the office area, which was
air-conditioned and in the open. When they relooked at the value of the 1941
bats, and the value of the deal, they were deathly afraid to have us sign
these things in the open in the front of the office. So they convinced us to
sign these bats in the middle of their factory in a caged area. It was during
the summer and it was horrible. It was very hot. We set up a signing area and
Joe started to sign the bats. At that particular time he was strictly 100
percent business. He wasn’t there to have fun or make any acquaintances, he
was there to do a job, get in and out and do it. A rather dapper looking guy
came into the cage during the signing and slapped Joe on the back. I thought
this would really upset Joe, but the two men embraced and laughed, and it
turned out to be PeeWee Reese! Another one of my idols! Also during the
signing, I had been filming some of it on a Camcorder sitting right next to
him, and I was asked during the signing that Joe didn’t want me to film it,
so I set the camera down. By the way I still have great film of him signing.
His attorney then approached me, there were about six or seven of us in this
cage, and said that Joe wanted to know if I was Jewish. I said, "No, I’m
Italian, Sicilian." So he said, "Oh! Joe’s going to love
you!" So we went back into the cage and Joe is signing bats. We break for
lunch; no one was scheduled to have lunch with Joe. We were walking to the car
in the parking lot and the van that Joe was in had pulled next to the car that
I was getting into. Joe tilted his head down and asked them if I would like to
join them for lunch. So we went to lunch, had a wonderful lunch and spent
about an hour and a half over lunch together, went back, started signing bats.
We had to use a special pen for the signing of the bats and during the signing
of the bats, the president of the H& B Bat Company, was there to spray and
wipe down any bats that had mistakes on them. We couldn’t cut another bat
because it was limited edition burnt in. This attorney got up and handed Joe
the contract to sign. He signed the contract, and the next bat he signed it
Joseph DiMaggio, as opposed to Joe DiMaggio which is the only way he signed
autographs. The owner of H&B grabbed the bat to try and erase it,
immediately Joe
Took the bat back and called me over to him. He said, "Ben I’d like you to have this bat. I don’t sign Joseph DiMaggio on my memorabilia I’d like you to have this bat for yourself." You have a picture of that bat. After that we went out for a great dinner that night. I couldn’t sleep that night because I had a bat signed by Joseph DiMaggio. Not only do I have the bat, but the video, ad all of the pens that he used to sign the bats. It’s a great piece of memorabilia from a great guy.
Q: What happened in the restaurant?
A: That evening we
went to a restaurant in Louisville, one of the top Italian restaurants in
Louisville Kentucky. The restaurant was quite crowded, we didn’t make
reservations, there was about eight or nine of us for dinner. There was a
crowd of people in the vestibule going into the restaurant. As I was walking
in Joe grabbed my arm and said, "Do me a favor, just tell the owner of
the restaurant that Joe DiMaggio is here." When I walked through this
crowd to get into the restaurant, the Maitre de got kind of put off my going
through the crowd. I asked if the owner was there, he came over, an Italian
guy from NewYork
who owned the restaurant. I said, "Excuse me I want to know if we can
have dinner, I’m here with Joe 
DiMaggio." I thought this guy was going
to pass out. The guy went crazy. He started snapping his fingers and all of a
sudden a table appears, and we go into a private room off the dining room. The
owner parts this crowd waiting, and in walks Joe DiMaggio, and our entire
group. We sit down, we eat, we’re ordering, having wine, having a great
evening. When the check came, Joe said he would take care of it. The guy just
went crazy because when he handed Joe the check and he said he would autograph
a picture for him, the guy went completely insane. Joe left him an autographed
picture to hang on a wall that he had dinner there. It was an incredible
evening.