DiMaggio honored at N.Y.

His career was the stuff of story and song, his accomplishments extraordinary: the 56-game hitting streak, the 10 pennants and nine world championships, the retired No. 5, the Hall of Fame.

Yet Cardinal John O’Connor, speaking Friday at a memorial service for New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, instead recalled what his father once said about the late center fielder: “DiMaggio seems to me to be a very decent fellow.”

DiMaggio’s class and dignity during six decades of public scrutiny were reflected in the somber service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where New Yorkers gave Joe D. one final standing ovation.

There were celebrities, yes – Woody Allen, George Steinbrenner, Henry Kissinger. But the altar was sparsely decorated, with a few tasteful sprays of flowers. There were only two speakers, one-time teammate Bobby Brown and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

“This will be a very simple service,” O’Connor promised – and it was. Simple yet elegant, much like the man it remembered.

“I would suggest that rarely was there ever seen such consummate skill, grace, power, speed and dignity in one person,” Brown told an overflow crowd at the Manhattan church.

“I know Joe is in heaven,” Brown continued. “I suspect there’s a committee up there right now trying to determine when to retire his number.”

Seated in a front-row pew were Yankees owner Steinbrenner, Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, ex-Secretary of State Kissinger and Giuliani. Opposite them were DiMaggio’s two granddaughters and his long-time friend and attorney, Morris Engelberg.

Other celebrities paying their final respects included Allen, singer Michael Bolton, comedian Joe Piscopo, and sportscasters Bryant Gumbel and Bob Costas. Fellow Yankees Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto sat behind Berra; nearby was ex-Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca.

DiMaggio, immortalized in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” and Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson,” died March 8 of complications from lung cancer.

Though he was buried in California following a small funeral, family and friends wanted a service in New York, the city where the shy son of a Bay Area immigrant catapulted to national prominence. He was remembered during the one-hour service as a great leader and a great teammate during his 13-year career. Brown and Giuliani both predicted his 56-game hitting streak would remain unsurpassed. But he was also remembered for his lifestyle after retiring in 1951, for the way he behaved over the next 48 years. (Associated Press)