Joe DiMaggio was a friend and generous supporter of Xaverian High School and was the first person to ever receive Xaverian's highest honor, the Concordia Award, in 1997. DiMaggio died on March 8, 1999, with the honor of being known as "the greatest living baseball player."
Joe played for the New York Yankees baseball team and his nickname was the "Yankee Clipper." How did he get this nickname? In the game of baseball, to 'clip' the ball means 'hit' the ball. everyone knows that Joe DiMaggio was a great hitter! But 'Yankee Clipper' is also the name of a beautiful sailing ship. To the people who watching him play baseball, DiMaggio played as like a sailing clipper ship -- gracefully.
Xaverian's Concordia Award was renamed the Joe DiMaggio Award to memorialize DiMaggio's life-long commitment to the health, educaiton and the well being of America's youth. Dimaggio has an annual award gala in his memory - The Joe DiMaggio Award Gala - a fundraiser for Xaverian High. This is a special program for students with learning disabilities.
The Joe DiMaggio Award's mission, established in 1999, is to memorialize his "lifelong commitment to the health, education and well being of America's youth."
More than 100 young men have graduated from this special initiative and all have gone on to four-year colleges. Because Xaverian is private and tuition driven, all proceeds from the annual Gala benefit its many students. the evening usually always includes a silent auction of rare Joe DiMaggio memorabilia donated by the DiMaggio Estate and Morris Engelberg, Esq.
Earning the Bay Ridge school's highest honor, formerly called the Concordia Award, DiMaggio won it in 1997. The award has since been presented to Dr. Henry Kissinger, Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, former mayor and current presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani, television personality Regis Philbin, singer/songwriter Paul Simon, Sopranos star James Gandolfini, CBS Sports commentator Boomer Esiason and NBC Emmy-Award winning sports broadcaster Bob Costas.
This year's May 2009 Joe DiMaggio Award Gala honors Reggie Jackson. This year's Master of Ceremonies is Jim Ryan, the Legendary Television Reporter and Anchorman.
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