Thoughts on Santiago

I just finished The Old Man and the Sea and I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it a bit. Santiago is the main character, and the old man in the title of the novel. I found Santiago a bit strange near the middle of the novel, when he started talking to himself. However, I realized he is in the middle of the gulf with no one else to talk to but himself. A bird comes by after a while, and Santiago begins talking to the bird. I found that a little odd, and was a bit confused. I mean, its a bird. It cannot respond to him. Then, Santiago is talking to the marlin fish that really can't hear him. I don't get why he was talking to the fish and bird, except that he might be going off his rocker just a wee bit.
One thing I noticed about Santiago was he always seemed to be thinking about what DiMaggio would think. I believe Santiago idolizes DiMaggio, who is a famous baseball player. From what I gathered about DiMaggio, he is just a baseball player, but could very well be the "Cubanized" version of Albert Pujols. DiMaggio is a young baseball player, who probably basks in all the fame he receives, and he gets it from all ages. Because the old man is old (duh) and idolizes him to the extent of wondering how DiMaggio would handle the marlin. I think he would not care. I mean, DiMaggio is a pro ball player. He has people catch the fish for him while he plays baseball. Maybe Cuban baseball players are different than American ball players, but still. I think Santiago should be more worried about himself rather than his idol as he is being pulled by a fish through the middle of the Gulf! I am just saying the old man's life is a bit more important than the thoughts of a great baseball player who does not even know he exists, just saying.