Dominic DiMaggio 1917-2009 -- Baseball's "most underrated great player." -- Curt Gowdy

Dominic DiMaggio, left, seen in 1949, still holds the Boston Red Sox team record for the longest consecutive-game hitting streak, but was overshadowed by the towering legend of his brother Joe, the Yankee Clipper.

A daring leadoff hitter who was the sparkplug for the Red Sox from 1940 to 1953, Dom DiMaggio had a .298 lifetime batting average and still holds the Boston record for hitting in 34 consecutive games. He set the mark in 1949, eight seasons after his brother Joe set the consecutive game standard by hitting in 56 straight for the New York Yankees. Joe ended Dom's streak when he caught a sinking line drive off his brother's last at-bat on Aug. 9, 1949, in a game the Red Sox ultimately won.

Dom DiMaggio also was one of the few players to average 100 runs a season for his career. In the 10 seasons he played, he had more hits than anyone else with 1,679. And he held the American League record for RBIs by a leadoff man until another Boston player, Nomar Garciaparra, broke it.

DiMaggio also was one of the finest center fielders to play the game. Gifted with a rifle arm and extraordinary quickness, he set an American League record for center fielders in 1948 with 503 putouts. The mark stood until 1977, when it was broken by Chet Lemon of the Chicago White Sox, who notched 512 putouts.