Hank Greenberg

Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986) was a first baseman for the Detroit Tigers during the 1930s and 1940s, later becoming a team executive. Known by the nicknames "Hammerin' Hank," "Hankus Pankus," and "the Hebrew Hammer," he is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame and won two MVP awards. Widely regarded as one of baseball's greatest sluggers, he was a dominant power hitter of his era.

Greenberg spent twelve of his thirteen major league seasons with Detroit, earning four All-Star selections and AL MVP honors in 1935 and 1940. He batted over .300 in eight seasons and helped the Tigers win two World Series titles. Four times he led the American League in home runs; his 58 homers in 1938 tied Jimmie Foxx’s 1932 mark for the most in a single season by anyone other than Babe Ruth. That total also tied Foxx for the most home runs between Ruth’s 60 in 1927 and Roger Maris’s 61 in 1961. Greenberg was the first major leaguer to hit 25 or more home runs in a season in both leagues, and he still holds the AL record for most RBIs in a season by a right-handed batter.

When the U.S. entered World War II, Greenberg was the first major leaguer to enlist, spending 47 months in military service—longer than any other MLB player—all during what would have been his prime years. As with many players who served, his career totals were diminished by the war. In 1947, he signed a record $85,000 contract before being sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played his final season. After retiring, he worked as a team executive for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.

Greenberg was the first Jewish superstar in American team sports. In 1934, during a pennant race, he publicly wrestled with whether to play on the Jewish High Holy Days. After consulting his rabbi, he played on Rosh Hashanah but sat out Yom Kippur, spending the day in synagogue. Having faced antisemitic abuse throughout his career, he was one of the few opposing players to publicly welcome Jackie Robinson to the majors in 1947.

Greenberg was born on January 1, 1911, in New York City’s Greenwich Village to Romanian Jewish immigrants from Bucharest, Sarah and David Greenberg. He was the third of four children, with brothers Ben and Joe and a sister Lillian. His parents intended to name him Hyman, but his birth certificate mistakenly read Henry. The family ran a successful cloth-shrinking plant in New York and later moved to the Bronx, where Greenberg attended James Monroe High School. There, he earned the nickname "Bruggy" from his basketball coach and was an outstanding all-around athlete. Though baseball was his favorite sport, basketball was his best; he led the high school team to a city championship. He also excelled in soccer and track.

In 1929, the 18-year-old Greenberg was recruited by the New York Yankees, but with Lou Gehrig already at first base, he turned them down. Instead, he attended New York University on an athletic scholarship and joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He also tried out for the New York Giants, but manager John McGraw was unimpressed. After his freshman year, Greenberg signed with the Detroit Tigers for $9,000.

He spent three years in the minors. In 1930, he played 17 games for the Hartford Senators and the rest of the season with the Raleigh Capitals, hitting .314 with 19 home runs. In 1931, with the Evansville Hubs, he batted .318 with 15 homers and 85 RBIs. The next year, playing for the Beaumont Exporters in the Texas League, he hit 39 homers with 131 RBIs, won the league MVP, and led Beaumont to the league title.

Greenberg made his major league debut on September 14, 1930, as a pinch hitter against the Yankees. That was his only game that season, making him the youngest player (19) to appear in the majors in 1930. He did not return to the big leagues until 1933, when he hit .301 with 87 RBIs and finished third in the league in strikeouts (78). In 1934, his second full season, he batted .339 and led the Tigers to their first World Series in 25 years. He led the league in doubles (63, fourth-highest all-time in a single season) and extra-base hits (96), and finished third in the AL in slugging (.600) and RBIs (139), sixth in batting average, and ninth in on-base percentage (.404). Late that season, he announced he would not play on September 10, which was Yom Kippur.