Before Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio Married a Different Hollywood Actress

When Joe D was coming into his own as a superstar, he met and married a movie star long before his romance with Hollywood’s ultimate blonde bombshell.

by Rich Watson 

When Joe DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe in 1954, it was headline news around the world. They were superstars in their respective fields, adored by the whole country and living their lives in the media spotlight. His relationship with her was abusive and marked by jealousy, yet the truth of it wasn’t well known at the time.

In 1939, DiMaggio was a star, but he was not yet the baseball legend he would become in later years. The fifty-six-game hitting streak, the hundred thousand dollar contract, the ascension to the Hall of Fame, the Mr. Coffee commercials, they all came much later—and before he even knew who Monroe was, a different film actress had caught his eye.

Small Town Gossip Threatens Baseball Romance in Sherryl Woods’ Sweet Magnolias Book “Stealing Home”

Single mom finds love on the diamond with a little help from her friends.

by Rich Watson

For almost forty years, Sherryl Woods has entertained readers with her Southern blend of romances and mysteries. A former journalist, she has written over a hundred ten books in a variety of series, under her own name and with the names Alexandra Kirk and Suzanne Sherrill.

In 2007, she started a new series called “Sweet Magnolias,” centered around a trio of best friends in a small Southern town, and the first book combined her love of romance stories with another interest: baseball.

The Twisted Path to Marriage for Leo Durocher & Laraine Day

It took two weddings and two divorces before they legally tied the knot.

by Rich Watson 

Baseball manager Leo Durocher met Hollywood actress Laraine Day in 1942. They were married to other spouses at the time, yet they fell in love. 

He divorced in 1943. By 1946, once she obtained a divorce from her husband, bandleader and airport manager Ray Hendricks, she was ready to wed Durocher.

They would have to jump through a number of hoops first.