Joe DiMaggio, regarded as the greatest outfielder in baseball today, began his baseball career as a shortstop with the San Francisco Seals, of the Pacific Coast League, in 1932. Switching to the outfield the next year saw him in action for 187 games, getting a batting average of 340. The following year for San Francisco he hit .341 and in 1935 hit .398. He joined the New York Yankees in 1936 as an outfielder, for whom he hit .346, getting 206 hits in 1938 games - a feat which only 13 other first-year men have ever been able to do. In 1937 he was crowned the home-run king of the American League, with 46 home runs; led the league in runs scored, with 151, and led the league in total bases hit, with 418. Joe DiMaggio has been selected as a center-fielder in three All-Star games, and in 1938 was selected by the largest number of votes, 241 out of a possible 249. He also received 106 votes for the most valuable player award the same year. His three-year major-league record shows 615 hits, 434 games, for a batting average of .331.