Business

DiMaggio dollars

The Yankee Clipper is getting ready to step to the plate again — and take a few swings as a consumer product brand.

The estate of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio has cut a deal to put the fleet-footed center fielder’s name and likeness on a slew of new merchandise that’s planned to launch next year.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak — one of the most enduring records in sports — an assortment of trading cards, bats, T-shirts and jerseys are already in the works, Michelle Alfandari of MODA Licensing said.

But the bigger initiative is to develop a stable of enduring product lines inspired by Joltin’ Joe, from food to fragrances, she said. A new line of men’s clothing and accessories aimed at department stores will be a special focus.

“Joe’s style, grace and elegance transcended sports,” said Elizabeth Kanna of Dominant Players, a California-based firm that’s been hired to devise the branding strategy for the effort.

Kanna said the deal is worth “millions and millions,” but declined to be more specific, saying it was too early in the game.

She likened DiMaggio’s superstardom to that of his one-time wife Marilyn Monroe, whose image rights likewise were acquired last month by a different licensing firm. Sources said that deal was cut for less than $50 million after about six months of talks.

While baby boomers might seem like the obvious consumers to target, there also will be style-focused merchandise aimed at younger men ages 19 to 29 — despite the fact that many younger fans have relatively scant knowledge of DiMaggio’s life and career.

The 13-time All-Star and nine-time World Series champ last played in 1951 and died 12 years ago next month.

“What Joe DiMaggio stood for is as relevant now as it was then,” Kanna said, citing “his athleticism, his romanticism, his teamwork, winning and doing the right thing.”

Ironically, that last bit about doing the right thing has helped delay the licensing initiative since DiMaggio’s death on March 8, 1999, says Morris Engelberg, the baseball star’s longtime friend and lawyer.

“When Joe was on his deathbed, he gripped me by the tie and said ‘You better protect my name,’ ” Engelberg told The Post, in his first interview since inking the deal.

“I think the reality is that I probably held back too long — I owed it to the children and family.”

Engelberg, who is serving as counsel for the licensing initiative, said he will nevertheless impose a few strict guidelines. He noted that until now the rights to DiMaggio’s name have been granted only to a tiny handful of ventures, including Manhattan’s West Side Highway and a children’s hospital in Florida.

“Joe turned down Toyota — he was very patriotic and he wouldn’t do anything foreign,” according to Engelberg. The lawyer also related a story of DiMaggio turning down $1 million to spend an afternoon signing 1,000 baseballs with his birth name, “Joseph Paul DiMaggio.”

“Joe said, ‘I’m not gonna do it,” Engelberg recalled. “I’m just plain old Joe DiMaggio, not Joseph Paul.’ ”

On the subject of food licensing, Kanna said Italian and ballpark fare such as hot dogs probably make sense.

james.covert@nypost.com