When Lefty O’Doul rejoined the San Francisco Seals in 1935, he was already considered one of the great teachers of hitting. Although he would serve as a manager for the next two decades plus, his greatest impact would be as an instructor—a combined hitting theorist and amateur psychologist of sorts who helped develop and inspire a number of great baseball players along the way.

Charlie Graham had O’Doul’s first prize pupil ready; the young man’s name was Joe DiMaggio, and he hailed from San Francis­co’s North Beach. A generation earlier he would have been one of the neighborhood kids O’Doul and his mates considered mortal enemies—the Irish versus the Italians.
Joe DiMaggio was quite a baseball player. READ MORE ON PLATE COVERAGE