Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life

Cramer, a New York Yankees fan, wanted to write about DiMaggio in a humanizing way, to cut through the myth and image of the baseball and American icon which he had carefully crafted.^[1]

Upon its release, the book caused controversy and furor amongst baseball fans as it was perceived to have painted DiMaggio in bad light.^[2] Cramer disagreed with the characterization, calling the book "positive" to baseball icon. Despite the controversy, the book was critically acclaimed and became a best-seller. It was nominated for the CASEY Award and the Seymour Medal.^{[citation needed]}

The New York Times called the book a "dismantling of both the DiMaggio and the American myths" and praised Cramer's prose.^[1] Historian Ron Kaplan also praised Cramer for his extensive research and honesty: "Cramer has done a marvelous, exhaustive job of research, spending five years on his tome... the long-anticipated biography of the Yankee Clipper could not, would not, have been written 30 years ago."^[3]

In 2021, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) named it one of its top 50 best baseball books during its 50th anniversary celebrations, writing: "If Frank Deford's Everybody's All-American is the best fictional account of the effects of sports superstardom on a man’s life, then this biography is the most vivid depiction of its impact on an actual professional athlete. Through seven decades, [Cramer] chronicles DiMaggio's efforts to maintain personal dignity on his own terms. While fame seemed to exaggerate many shortcomings, the book reveals his genuine and common human decency."^[4]