Own a Piece of Joltin' Joe

By Jeninne Lee-St. John

Where has all your stuff gone, Joe DiMaggio? More than 1,000 items owned by the slugger, who died at 84 in 1999, are up for auction May 19-20 in New York City. Fans can see all the memorabilia, including this sampling of our favorites, here with their estimated prices, at a show near Times Square this week.

The fabled romance of the ballplayer and the movie star is documented by this signed photo of Marilyn Monroe and the license for her 1954 marriage to DiMaggio. They divorced after just nine months, but for two decades after her 1962 death, he sent roses to her grave twice a week. Photo, $40,000; license, $15,000

Before he retired and ceded center field to Mickey Mantle, DiMaggio wore this Yankees home uniform in the last game of the 1951 World Series against the New York Giants. It was the last major league game he played--and the Bronx Bombers, of course, won. $300,000

DiMaggio had a career batting average of .325 and still holds the record for a consecutive-game hit streak--56, set in 1941. Little wonder he was among great batters like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays who won the Babe Ruth Sultan of Swat Award, named for his Yankee predecessor. $75,000

Ted Williams and DiMaggio, in this photo signed by Williams, slugged out the Red Sox--Yankees rivalry in 1941, a season that ended with Williams winning the American League batting title and Joltin' Joe being named MVP. $350

At the height of World War II--and his baseball career--DiMaggio enlisted in the Army. Commissioned as a sergeant and a physical-education instructor outside San Francisco, he probably received this dog tag in 1943 or '44. $5,000

Countless baseballs bear DiMaggio's signature. Rarer is this ball signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 and cherished by DiMaggio as "the only two autographs I ever sought." $20,000