Baseball player, born in New York City, New York, USA. During his 13-year career as a first baseman for the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates (193047), he hit 331 home runs and twice won the league Most Valuable Player award (1935, 1940). In 1938 his 58 home runs almost eclipsed Babe Ruth's single season record of 60. As one of the first major league players to enlist in the military during World War 2, he lost nearly four full seasons of playing time (19415). On retirement he served as general manager of the Cleveland Indians (194857) and vice-president of the Chicago White Sox (195963). He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1956.
Hank Greenberg| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | January 1, 1911, New York, New York |
| Death: | September 4, 1986, Beverly Hills, California |
| Professional Career | |
| Debut | September 14, 1930, Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees, Navin Field |
| Team(s) |
Detroit Tigers (1930-46) Pittsburgh Pirates (1947) |
| HOF induction: | 1956 |
| Career Highlights | |
| Won AL MVP twice, in 1935 and 1940. | |
Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank," was an American Hall of Fame 5-time All-Star and 2-time MVP first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball.
He is 7th of all major league ballplayers lifetime in slugging percentage (.605), and of retired ballplayers only Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, and Foxx had higher slugging percentages.
Early life
Greenberg was born in New York City to an Orthodox Jewish family.
In 1929, he was recruited by the New York Yankees, who already had a capable first baseman: Lou Gehrig. Greenberg turned them down and instead attended New York University for a year, after which he signed with the Detroit Tigers for $9,000.
Minor League career
Greenberg played minor league baseball for three years.
Greenberg played 17 games in 1930 for Hartford, then played at Raleigh, North Carolina where he hit .314 with 19 home runs.
In 1931, he played at Evansville in the Three I League (.318, 15 homers, 85 RBIs).
In 1932, at Beaumont in the Texas League, he hit 39 homers with 131 RBIs, won the MVP award, and led Beaumont to the Texas League title.
During the season, one of his teammates (Jo-Jo White) walked slowly around Greenberg staring at him.
Early Major League career
In 7 of the 9 years in which he was active, he was one of the dominant players in the game.
In 1930 he was the youngest player in the majors when he first broke in, at 19.
In 1933, he rejoined the Tigers and hit .301 while driving in 87 runs.
In 1934, his second major-league season, he hit .339 and helped the Tigers reach their first World Series in 25 years.
In 1935 Greenberg led the league in RBIs (170) and total bases (389), tied Foxx for the AL title in home runs (36), was 2nd in the league in doubles (46), triples (16), and slugging percentage (.628), and was 3rd in the league in runs scored (121).
In 1937 Greenberg was voted to the All-Star Team.
A prodigious home run hitter, Greenberg narrowly missed breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home-run record in 1938, when he was again voted to the All-Star Team and hit 58 home runs, leading the league for the second time. it is also true that Detroit and Cleveland were battling for third place, which in those days carried with it a share of World Series profits, so Cleveland players had a financial interest in keeping Greenberg from hitting home runs.)
He also led the league in runs scored (144) and at-bats per home run (9.6), tied for the AL lead in walks (119), was 2nd in RBI (146), slugging percentage (.683), and total bases (380), and was also 3rd in OBP (.438).
In 1939 Greenberg was voted to the All-Star Team] for the third year in a row. He was 2nd in the league in home runs (33), 3rd in the AL in doubles (42) and slugging percentage (.622), while leading the league in strikeouts (95).
After moving to the outfield in 1940, Greenberg was voted to the All-Star Team for the 4th year in a row.
WWII Service
The Detroit draft board initially classified Greenberg as 4F for "flat feet."
Although drafted in 1940, he was honorably discharged after Congress released men aged 28 years and older from service, being released on December 5, 1941, two days before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Return to baseball
Greenberg remained in uniform until the summer of 1945.
In 1946 he returned to peak form, leading the league in home runs (44) and RBIs (127), both for the 4th time.
In 1947, Greenberg and the Tigers had a lengthy salary dispute. Team co-owner Bing Crosby recorded a song, "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye" with Groucho Marx and Greenberg, to celebrate Greenberg's arrival. The Pirates also moved in the seats in Forbes Field's cavernous left field, renaming the section "Greenberg's Gardens," to accommodate Greenberg's pull-hitting style. Greenberg played first base for the Pirates for 1947, and was one of the few opposing players to publicly welcome Jackie Robinson to the majors.
That year he tied for the league lead in walks, with 104.
Fielding
As a fielder, the 6'4" Greenberg was awkward and unsure of himself early in his career, but he mastered his first-base position through countless hours of practice.
Baseball style
Greenberg felt that runs batted in were more important than home runs.
Abbreviated career
Starring as a first baseman and outfielder with the Detroit Tigers (1930, 1933-46), and briefly with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1947), he played only 9 full seasons.
It is often estimated that Greenberg, had he played in another era uninterrupted by war, would have amassed between 500 and 600 home runs and 1,800 to 2,000 RBI. ownership
The following year, Greenberg retired from the field to become the Cleveland Indians' farm system director and two years later, their general manager and part-owner along with Bill Veeck.
Greenberg sold off his share of the White Sox in 1961 after the American League announced plans to put a team in Los Angeles. Greenberg wouldn't budge, and pulled out of the running for what became the Los Angeles Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim).
Family
He married Coral Gimbel (of the New York department store family) on February 18, 1946, three days after signing a $60,000 contract with the Tigers.
Legacy
Greenberg was a sports icon in the Jewish American community.
Greenberg was not the first Jewish man to play major-league baseball, but by the end of his career he had become by far the best Jewish player ever, and the first major Jewish star. In the 50 years since Greenberg's retirement, only Sandy Koufax achieved similar success among Jewish players.
Greenberg was subject to the most vicious ethnic taunting seen in the sport prior to the arrival of Jackie Robinson in 1947, yet Greenberg nevertheless became a first-rank ballplayer.
Miscellaneous
Greenberg lacked coordination as a youngster, and flat feet prevented him from running fast.
The anti-Semitism Greenberg faced ranged from players staring at him because they had never before seen a Jew, to coarse racial epithets hurled at him.
Greenberg sometimes retaliated against the racial attacks, once going into the Chicago White Sox clubhouse to challenge manager Jimmy Dykes, and on another occasion calling out the entire Yankee team.
Jewish fans in Detroit -- and around the American League for that matter -- took to Greenberg almost at once, offering him everything from free meals to free cars, all of which he refused.
After being passed over for the All-Star team in 1935 and being left on the bench for the 1937 game, Greenberg refused to participate in the 1938 contest after being named to the AL team.
In Greenberg's first game back after being discharged, he homered on July 1, 1945.
That year, he set the major league record with 11 multi-homer games.
Jackie Robinson said of Greenberg, "Class tells.
In 23 World Series games, he hit .318 with five homers and 22 RBI.
Greenberg was one of the few baseball people to testify on behalf of Curt Flood in 1970 when the outfielder challenged the reserve clause.
Greenberg died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California and his remains were entombed at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
In 2006, Greenberg will be featured on a United States postage stamp .
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