“Oh my God, you are Tom Hanks!” might be a completely normal reaction to meeting one of Hollywood’s best-known stars. But that’s exactly how the “Forrest Gump” actor himself greeted one of his own idols, legendary Yankees pitcher Joe DiMaggio.
In an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Hanks was asked to name the most prominent New Yorker he had ever met, which immediately lit up his eyes.
Tom Hanks’ star-struck dinner
The 69-year-old told the story of meeting Di Maggio at the original Coco Pazzo in New York. While Hanks didn’t specify the exact date, we can work out it happened sometime between 1990, when the Italian restaurant opened, and 1999, when the baseball star died.
Hanks was enjoying a quiet family dinner when he was asked if he would like to “make DiMaggio’s acquaintance,” which he accepted eagerly.
“I think I knocked over the table and spilled wine on my wife and my mother-in-law,” Hanks laughed. “When you meet Joe DiMaggio, the only thing you can say is, ‘Oh my God, you are Joe DiMaggio!’”
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Hollywood meets baseball royalty
By the end of the 1980s, Hanks had already established himself as one of Hollywood’s top actors. Yet he could hardly believe one of MLB’s biggest names was inviting him to “come by.”
“First of all, he said, ‘I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Tom,’” Hanks recalled. “He knew my name.”
Hanks modestly attributes DiMaggio’s familiarity to the pitcher being “an Oakland boy.” Despite spending his entire MLB career with the Yankees, DiMaggio was born in California, played for the nearby San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League in the 1930s, and even coached the Oakland Athletics in the late 1960s.
“Lovely, dapper” DiMaggio
“He couldn’t have been more lovely, very dapper in his suit,” Hanks continued. “He was always very well dressed.”
Soon, DiMaggio gave “the signal,” which Hanks interpreted as, “It was really great talking to you, Tom, but your time’s up.”
A shared moment of humor
Before parting ways, however, Hanks was able to share one quick anecdote linking them together.
“There was one review I got once that said, ‘I made my job look as easy as Joe DiMaggio made playing center field look.’” To which the nine-time World Series champion responded, “Ah, yeh, it looked easy, but NOT IN HERE,” clutching his chest.
In the presence of Joe DiMaggio, even Tom Hanks was just another fan.
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