Book: Lawyer Cheated Joe D.

Joe DiMaggio's lawyer cheated him out of several hundred thousand dollars in memorabilia in the last days of his life, according to a biography on the New York Yankees great.

In his book, "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life," Richard Ben Cramer zeroed in on Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's lawyer and friend through the 1990s.

"Absurd," said Engelberg from his home in Hollywood, Fla.

"Over a 16-year period, I waived more than $5 million of agent fees, plus legal, accounting and other fees, which amounted to a significant sum of money. Why would I `scam' a few thousand dollars from Joe DiMaggio? Anything I asked from him, he always said yes. Just look at the walls in my offices and home."

Excerpts of the book, due to be released Tuesday, were included in the Oct. 23 issue of Newsweek magazine.

Cramer says Engelberg made a secret deal to get 2,000 baseballs made specially for Joe DiMaggio Day at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 27, 1998, with the intent of having them unwittingly signed and then sold for his own gain without DiMaggio's knowledge.

"That is absolutely ridiculous," Engelberg said. "I never bought 2,000 balls, Joe never bought 2,000 balls. An outright lie."

According to Engelberg, DiMaggio received 10,000 blank Rawlings DiMaggio commemorative baseballs in connection with DiMaggio Day. Then, DiMaggio tried to purchase 2,000 more baseballs and pay for them, but the promoter wouldn't sell them.

"So, I attempted to purchase the 2,000 balls from a third party in my name, pay for them and give them to DiMaggio. But I never purchased them," Engelberg said.

Engelberg also said DiMaggio was privy to all the dealings regarding the baseballs and "signed a letter authorizing me to do this. His grandchildren also were privy to all of this."

According to the book, Engelberg gained DiMaggio's trust because he made more money for him than any of his previous business managers. Cramer claims Engelberg took thousands of items DiMaggio signed, including baseballs, lithographs and canceled checks.

Engelberg said he recently gave more than $300,000 worth of memorabilia to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood and Xaverian High in Brooklyn.

In October 1998, two weeks after the Yankees held Joe DiMaggio Day on the last day of the season, DiMaggio was hospitalized and had a cancerous tumor removed from his right lung. Then, after contracting pneumonia in his other lung, DiMaggio was placed on a respirator.

Cramer says Engelberg manipulated the release of information during DiMaggio's fatal illness, often dispensing false updates and prognoses. DiMaggio died on March 8, 1999.

Engelberg said DiMaggio made him promise not to disclose he had cancer, and "I was fulfilling my promise."

The author also details ow DiMaggio, viewed as a consummate gentleman on and off the field, was a lonely man who didn't trust people and was obsessed with money and privacy.

Cramer tells how DiMaggio rushed home after an earthquake in San Francisco before Game 3 of the 1989 World Series, and emerged with $600,000 in a garbage bag.

According to the (New York) Daily News, Cramer reveals DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe had agreed to remarry before she died of a drug overdose in 1962.

The News also said the book told of how Engelberg removed a 1936 World Series ring from DiMaggio's finger shortly after the Hall of Famer died in the hospital.

"That upset me the most," Engelberg said. "Joe gave me that ring, and told me to wear it."

The lawyer said several times he tried to put the ring back on DiMaggio's finger, but his fingers "were so swollen from the medication that it was impossible to get the ring over his knuckles.

"Joe would motion for me to put the ring back on my finger," Engelberg said.

He said DiMaggio had willed the ring to the player's granddaughter, Paula Hamra, who told Engelberg he could wear the ring as long as he wanted.

Engelberg said he gave the ring to Hamra immediately after the memorial service at Yankee Stadium a little more than a month after DiMaggio's death.

Cramer also details DiMaggio's ties to organized crime, including a trust fund set up by mobster Frank Costello, according to the newspaper.

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