Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin Greenberg, nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers as a first baseman in the 1930s and 1940s. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a two-time Most Valuable Player Award winner, he was one of the premier power hitters of his generation and is widely considered one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history.
Greenberg played the first twelve of his 13 major league seasons for Detroit; with the Tigers, he was an All-Star for four seasons and was named the American League Most Valuable Player in 1935 and 1940. He had a batting average over.300 in eight seasons, and won two World Series championships with the Tigers. He was the AL home run leader four times and his 58 home runs for the Tigers in 1938 equaled Jimmie Foxx's 1932 mark for the most in one season by anyone other than Babe Ruth, and tied Foxx for the most home runs between Ruth's record 60 in 1927 and Roger Maris' record 61 in 1961. Greenberg was the first major league player to hit 25 or more home runs in a season in each league, and remains the AL record-holder for most runs batted in in a single season by a right-handed batter.
When the United States joined World War II, Greenberg was the first major leaguer to join the armed forces; he spent 47 months in military service, more than any other major league player, all of which took place during what would have been prime years in his major league career. Like many players who served in WWII, his career statistics suffered because of the war and would have certainly been higher had he not served in the armed services during wartime. In 1947, Greenberg signed a contract for a record $85,000 salary before being sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played his final MLB season that year. After retiring from playing, Greenberg continued to work in baseball as a team executive for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Greenberg was the first Jewish superstar in American team sports. He attracted national attention in 1934 in the middle of a pennant race when he grappled with the decision of whether or not to play baseball on the Jewish High Holy Days; after consultation with his rabbi, he decided to play on Rosh Hashanah, but refused to play on Yom Kippur, instead spending the day at the synagogue. Having endured his share of antisemitic abuse in his career, Greenberg was one of the few opposing players to publicly welcome African-American player Jackie Robinson to the major leagues in 1947.
Early life
Greenberg was born on January 1, 1911, in Greenwich Village, New York City, to Romanian Jewish immigrant parents from Bucharest, Sarah and David Greenberg. He was the third of four children and had two brothers, Ben and Joe, and a sister, Lillian. His parents had originally wanted to name him "Hyman"; however, the name on his birth certificate was erroneously listed as "Henry".The family owned a successful cloth-shrinking plant in New York. Eventually, they moved from Greenwich Village to the Bronx where Greenberg attended James Monroe High School. There, Greenberg was an outstanding all-around athlete and was bestowed with the long-standing nickname of "Bruggy" by his basketball coach. His preferred sport was baseball, and his preferred position was first base. However, his best sport was basketball and he helped the high school basketball team win the city championship. Greenberg also excelled at soccer and track and field.
In 1929, the 18-year-old Greenberg was recruited by the New York Yankees, who already had Lou Gehrig at first base. As first base was already taken on the Yankee team, Greenberg turned down the Yankees' offer and instead attended New York University on an athletic scholarship; there, he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu. During this time, he also had a tryout with the New York Giants; Giants manager John McGraw, however, was not impressed by the first baseman. Hence, after his freshman year ended, Greenberg signed with the Detroit Tigers for $9,000.
Professional career
Minor leagues
Greenberg played minor league baseball for three years. He played 17 games in 1930 for the Hartford Senators of the Eastern League before playing the remainder of the year with the Raleigh Capitals of the Piedmont League, hitting.314 with 19 home runs. In 1931, he played for the Evansville Hubs in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, hitting.318 with 15 home runs and 85 runs batted in. In 1932, the Beaumont Exporters in the Texas League, he hit 39 homers with 131 RBIs, winning the league's Most Valuable Player award, and leading Beaumont to the Texas League title.Major leagues
Early years
On September 14, 1930, Greenberg made his major league debut as a pinch hitter against the New York Yankees. It was the only game he appeared in that year but, as a result, made him the youngest player to appear in the major leagues in 1930. It was another three years before he rejoined the majors. In 1933, for the Tigers, Greenberg hit.301 with 87 runs batted in. At the same time, he was third in the league in strikeouts.In 1934, his second season in the majors, Greenberg hit.339 and helped the Tigers reach their first World Series in 25 years. He led the league in doubles, with 63, and extra-base hits. Additionally, he was third in the AL in slugging percentage – behind Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig, but ahead of Babe Ruth – and in RBIs, sixth in batting average, seventh in home runs, and ninth in on-base percentage.
Late in the 1934 season, he announced that he would not play on September 10, which was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, or on September 19, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Detroit fans grumbled at the decision, however, with one reportedly saying, "Rosh Hashanah comes every year but the Tigers haven't won the pennant since 1909." As a result, Greenberg did considerable soul-searching, and discussed the matter with his rabbi and his father; finally he relented and agreed to play on Rosh Hashanah, but stuck with his decision not to play on Yom Kippur. Dramatically, Greenberg hit two home runs in a 2–1 Tigers victory over the Red Sox on Rosh Hashanah. The next day, the Detroit Free Press ran the Hebrew lettering for "Happy New Year" across its front page.
Columnist and poet Edgar A. Guest expressed the general opinion in a poem titled "Came Yom Kippur: Speaking of Greenberg", in which he used the Irish names Murphy and Mulroney. The poem, published in the Detroit Free Press, ends with the lines:
The Detroit press was not so kind regarding the Yom Kippur decision, nor were many fans, but Greenberg in his autobiography recalled that he received a standing ovation from congregants at Congregation Shaarey Zedek when he arrived. With Greenberg absent from the lineup, the Tigers lost to the New York Yankees 5–2. They went on to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1934 World Series, losing in seven games against the "Gashouse Gang".
In 1935, Greenberg led the league in RBIs, total bases, and extra base hits, tied Foxx for the AL title in home runs, was 2nd in the league in doubles, slugging percentage, was 3rd in the league in triples, and in runs scored, 6th in on-base percentage and walks, and was 7th in batting average. He was unanimously voted as the Most Valuable Player in the American League. By the All-Star break that season, Greenberg had hit 25 home runs and set an MLB record of 103 RBIs, but was not selected to the AL All-Star roster; one reason was that AL manager Mickey Cochrane had put himself on the All-Star roster despite eventually not playing in the game.
That season, Greenberg led the Tigers to another pennant. However, during Game 2, he sprained his wrist and was sidelined for the remainder of the series as the Tigers won their first World Series title.
In April 1936, Greenberg re-injured his wrist in a collision with Jake Powell of the Washington Senators and did not play the remainder of the season. He finished the season with 16 hits, 1 home run, and 15 RBIs in 12 games.
In 1937, Greenberg recovered from his injury and was voted to the AL All-Star roster, but did not play. On September 19, 1937, he hit the first home run into the center-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium. He led the AL by driving in 184 runs, and in extra-base hits, while batting.337 with 200 hits. He was second in the league in home runs, doubles, total bases, slugging percentage, and walks, third in on-base percentage, and seventh in batting average. Greenberg came in third in the vote for MVP, behind teammate Charlie Gehringer and Joe DiMaggio.
File:1937 all stars crop FINAL2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Seven of the American League's 1937 All-Star players, from left to right: Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Greenberg. All seven would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.
A prodigious home run hitter, Greenberg narrowly missed breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1938, when he hit 58 home runs, leading the league for the second time. That year, he had 11 games with multiple home runs, a new major league record. Greenberg matched what was then the single-season home run record by a right-handed batter, ; the mark stood for 66 years until it was broken by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998. It remained the AL single season record by a right handed hitter until Aaron Judge surpassed it in 2022. Greenberg also had a 59th home run washed away in a rainout. It has been long speculated that Greenberg was intentionally walked late in the season to prevent him from breaking Ruth's record, but Greenberg dismissed this speculation, calling it "crazy stories". Howard Megdal has calculated that in September 1938, Greenberg was walked in over 20% of his plate appearances, above his average for the season. Baseball historian Ron Kaplan, while not dismissing antisemitism's role in Greenberg's decreased home run rate, states that there was nothing different in the way Greenberg was pitched to in the final days of the 1938 season.
Greenberg was again voted to the AL All-Star roster in 1938, but because he was not named to the 1935 AL All-Star roster and was benched in the 1937 game, he declined to accept a starting position on the 1938 AL team and did not play. He led the league in runs scored and at-bats per home run, tied for the AL lead in walks, was second in RBIs, slugging percentage, and total bases, and third in OBP and set a still-standing major league record of 39 homers in his home park, the newly re-configured Briggs Stadium. He also set a major-league record with 11 multiple-home run games and came in third in the vote for MVP, behind Jimmie Foxx and Bill Dickey.
In 1939, Greenberg was voted to the AL All-Star roster for the third year in a row and was a starter at first base, and singled and walked in four at-bats. He finished second in the AL in home runs and strikeouts, third in doubles and slugging percentage, fourth in RBIs, sixth in walks, and ninth in on-base percentage.
After the 1939 season ended, Greenberg was asked by general manager Jack Zeller to take a salary cut of $5,000 as a result of his off-year in power and run production. He was asked to move from first base to left field to accommodate Rudy York, who was one of the best young hitters of his generation; York was tried at catcher, third baseman, and outfielder and proved to be a defensive liability at each position. Greenberg in turn, demanded a $10,000 bonus if he mastered left field, insisting he was the one taking the risk in learning a new position. Greenberg received his bonus at the end of spring training.
In 1940, Greenberg switched from playing the first base position to the left field position. For the fourth consecutive time, he was voted by the season's American All-Star team manager Joe McCarthy to the AL All-Star team. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Greenberg and Lou Finney were sent into the game to replace right fielder Charlie Keller and left fielder Ted Williams, with Greenberg playing in left field and Finney in right field. Greenberg batted twice in the game and fouled out to the catcher twice. The NL won the game 4–0, the first All-Star Game shutout.
That season, Greenberg led the AL in home runs for the third time in six years with 41; in RBIs, doubles, total bases, extra-base hits, at-bats per home run, and slugging percentage. Greenberg finished second in the league to Williams in runs scored and OBP, all while batting.340. He also led the Tigers to the AL pennant, and won his second AL MVP award, becoming the first player in major-league history to win an MVP award at two different playing positions. However, the Tigers subsequently lost the 1940 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in seven games.
Greenberg admitted in his autobiography after his career ended that he had taken part in sign stealing in September 1940 season, which was inspired by teammates Tommy Bridges and Pinky Higgins, who noticed that the new rifle they used for their hunt had a telescopic lens that could read signs when in the stands in the outfield. He also said that sign stealing was going on in the 1948 Cleveland Indians and the 1959 Chicago White Sox teams.