CBS SportsLine wire reports
Nov. 6, 1998

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Joe DiMaggio had a setback in his fight against pneumonia and a lung infection, and is expected to be hospitalized for at least another six to eight weeks.

"I

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just got back from the hospital and he's very sick," Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's lawyer and friend, said Friday.

The baseball great, who turns 84 Nov. 25, had been getting out of bed since the weekend, and doctors said that aggravated his condition.

"He likes to get out of bed to watch TV, but the doctors said he overdid it. He aggravated his condition," Engelberg said. "It's like if you keep rubbing a sore on your hand it gets worse. That's what happened to Joe."

But his days of leaving his bed are over for a while.

"HE WILL BE SEDATED for four to six days so he can breathe easier," said Engelberg, adding that DiMaggio also was aided by an oxygen device.

"But the doctors have told him his life is not in danger," he added. ``His heart is good, his kidneys are good, all his vital signs are good. If it weren't for that pneumonia, he would be out playing golf."

Joe DiMaggio is expected to be hospitalized another six to eight weeks. (AP)

The setback ended hopes that the Yankees' Hall of Fame outfielder would be out in time for his birthday. He entered Memorial Regional Hospital on Oct. 12.

"He's going to be in the hospital, intensive care, for six to eight weeks," Engelberg said. "And then he will have to go into rehabilitation just because he's been in bed for about 25 days now."

Engelberg said DiMaggio had been buoyed by visits from his grandchildren, Paula, Cathy and Jim, and brother Dom, also a former major league outfielder.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE BROTHERS had been strained in recent years, but Dom, who lives in the Boston area, has been a regular visitor to the hospital room.

"I had to tell Paula and Cathy to go back home this morning," Engelberg said. "Joe was in no shape to see them."

The lawyer said a team of seven doctors is treating DiMaggio, headed by Dr. Earl Barron, a cardiologist.

As has been the case since DiMaggio was hospitalized, only his family and one or two friends have been allowed to visit. Phone calls to his room are blocked.

Hospital staffers have been barred from discussing his condition and repeated callers are referred to Engelberg's office.