Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), known universally as "Hammerin' Hank," was one of the most consequential figures in Detroit Tigers history and in the broader story of Detroit as a sports city. He played first base and outfield for the Detroit Tigers from 1933 to 1946, and for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1947. Greenberg was the first Jewish baseball superstar and, as a symbol of pride, one of the most important Jews in America during the 20th century. Despite losing four years of his physical prime to World War II, he still put together a 13-year career — all but one season with the Tigers — that included 331 home runs with 1,276 RBIs, a .313 batting average, and a .412 lifetime on-base percentage. His time in Detroit coincided with two of the most turbulent decades in American history — the Great Depression and World War II — and his conduct both on and off the field left a permanent mark on the city.
Early Life and Path to Detroit
Greenberg was born on January 1, 1911, in the Bronx, New York. He was born into an Orthodox family that spoke both English and Yiddish at home. From a young age, Greenberg stood out physically: in 1929, the 18-year-old, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Greenberg was recruited by the New York Yankees, who already had Lou Gehrig at first base. Rather than wait out Gehrig's tenure, Greenberg turned down the Yankees' offer and instead attended New York University on an athletic scholarship, where 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 young first baseman.
After his freshman year ended, Greenberg signed with the Detroit Tigers for $9,000. He played minor league baseball for three years, including 17 games in 1930 for the Hartford Senators of the Eastern League before playing the remainder of that 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. He played his first full major league season in 1933 and quickly established himself as one of baseball's premier power hitters.
Tigers Career: Peak Seasons and Milestone Achievements
Greenberg's production with the Detroit Tigers was extraordinary by any measure. 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 — the fourth-highest single-season total all time — and extra-base hits (96).
The following year brought even greater reward. In 1935, playing first base, he hit .328 and led the league in both home runs (36) and RBI (168). Greenberg's Tigers won the World Series that year. That championship was Detroit's first-ever title, and Greenberg was awarded the American League Most Valuable Player award for the season.[1]
In 1938, he achieved tremendous fame when he fell just two home runs short of matching Babe Ruth's record of sixty home runs in a single season. By February of 1940, Greenberg was one of the biggest stars and best hitters in the game. From 1933–1939, the Detroit Tigers first baseman had averaged .324 and led all of baseball in home runs twice during that span.
In 1940, the Tigers asked Greenberg to make a dramatic position change. Greenberg had played first base for the entirety of his career up until 1940, when the Detroit Tigers asked him to move to left field. The move was made to accommodate young slugger Rudy York at first base. The transition was not flawless: Greenberg had to switch from using his "scoop shovel" first baseman's mitt to an outfield glove, teach himself the long follow-through of an outfielder's throw, and get accustomed to covering significantly more ground. But he understood what was at stake, and his dogged work ethic hastened the learning process.
The result was remarkable. He led all American League left fielders in putouts (298) and assists (14), and won his second AL Most Valuable Player Award in six years, becoming the first baseball player in history to win two MVP awards at two different positions. Offensively, he remained dominant — leading the league in home runs (41) and RBI (150).[2]
His career slugging average of .605 gave him a career OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.017, a figure topped by only four other players at the time of his retirement: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx. A five-time All-Star, he led the American League in home runs four times, including his celebrated 58-homer season in 1938.
Faith, Identity, and the 1934 Yom Kippur Decision
No episode from Greenberg's Detroit years captured the city's imagination — or the nation's — more than the events of September 1934. In 1934, a classic drama unfolded when Greenberg was faced with a choice between his religion and his career as an athlete. That year, the Detroit Tigers had a chance to win the pennant, a feat that had eluded the team since 1909.
After receiving the blessing of a local rabbi, Greenberg decided to play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and hit two crucial home runs to lead the Tigers to a 2–1 win. That same year, Greenberg chose not to play on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, because it is the most sacred of all Jewish holidays. Though he had played the previous day and driven in a winning home run, Greenberg went to synagogue instead of the stadium despite the pennant race.
The day after his Rosh Hashanah home runs, the Detroit Free Press ran the Hebrew lettering for "Happy New Year" across its front page. 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.[3]
Greenberg came up in an era of antisemitism in the 1930s, from Father Charles Coughlin to Hitler's rise in Germany. Playing in the Detroit of the notoriously anti-Semitic Henry Ford and Father Charles Coughlin, Greenberg initially dealt with a largely hostile crowd at his home games as well as on the road, and often encountered prejudice from opposing players and managers. Yet he persisted, and in his autobiography wrote that "I realize now, more than I used to, how important a part I played in the lives of a generation of Jewish kids who grew up in the thirties. I guess I was kind of a role model."[4]
World War II Service and Return to Detroit
Greenberg's service record was one of the most distinguished of any major league player. On October 16, 1940, Greenberg became the first American League player to register for the nation's first peacetime draft. In May 1941, he was the first major league player drafted and called up for World War II service. He served with the Army for three months and returned to Detroit to prepare for the 1942 season.
Then came Pearl Harbor. When the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, Greenberg immediately changed his mind and publicly announced that he was re-enlisting in the military, another first for major league baseball. At the press conference announcing his decision, he stated without hesitation: "I'm going back in. We are in trouble and there is only one thing left to do — return to service. I have not been called back, I am going back of my own accord." He enlisted with the Army Air Corps as an Infantry Sergeant, was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, was deployed to China in 1943, returned stateside in 1944, and was discharged in 1945.[5]
His return to Briggs Stadium in Detroit in July 1945 became one of the sport's defining moments. It was July 1, 1945 — less than eight weeks after Germany's surrender ended the European war. Greenberg, who had entered the Army Air Corps four years earlier in May of 1941, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 1 of a Tigers vs. A's doubleheader. It was his first game in the majors since his discharge two weeks prior. With one swing — a blow that sailed into the left-field stands at Briggs Stadium and electrified the crowd of 47,729 fans — Greenberg answered all the questions about whether a player could return from war and regain his form.[6]
After his return to the Tigers in 1945, he hit a dramatic ninth-inning grand slam in the last game of the season to clinch the AL pennant for Detroit, which then went on to win its second World Series title. In the World Series, Greenberg hit the Tigers' only two home runs, notched a team-high seven RBIs, and hit .304 in Detroit's 4-games-to-3 win over the Cubs. In 1946, Greenberg once again led the league in home runs (44) and RBI (127).[7]
Legacy in Detroit and Beyond
1946 would be Greenberg's final year as a member of the Detroit Tigers, as the Pittsburgh Pirates purchased his contract before the 1947 season. As one of the few players to warmly welcome Jackie Robinson, Greenberg played a crucial role in supporting the integration of baseball. He played only one season with the Pirates before retiring to take over direction of the Cleveland Indians' farm system. Greenberg would shortly become their general manager and would later serve the Chicago White Sox in the same capacity.
He became the first Jewish inductee in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.[8] In 1983, Greenberg returned to Detroit for a ceremony at Tiger Stadium to retire his uniform number 5, alongside Charlie Gehringer's number 2. "I am very proud," he told the crowd, "of the fact that my name and uniform number will be remembered as long as baseball is played in Detroit." On September 4, 1986, Greenberg died after a lengthy battle with cancer.[9]
His influence on Detroit's cultural and sports identity endures. Greenberg, who entered the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest hitters in the game's history, was the first Jewish star in team sports. He interrupted his baseball career to serve longer in World War II than any other major league player, and led the Tigers to World Series championships before and after the war. Detroit historian Tim Kiska, a professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, observed that the real story of the 1945 Tigers was Hank Greenberg, and that Greenberg came up in a remarkable era of antisemitism in the 1930s, from Father Charles Coughlin to Hitler's rise in Germany.[10]
Washington Post sports columnist Shirley Povich captured much of what Detroit saw in Greenberg when he wrote: "He was the perfect standard-bearer for Jews. Hank was smart, he was proud, and he was big." His career OPS of 1.017, his four American League home run titles, his two World Series rings with Detroit, and his pioneering role as a Jewish athlete in an era of open prejudice combine to make him one of the most significant figures in the history of Detroit baseball.