Books and articles about Hank Greenberg

Although he missed time through injuries, military service, and early retirement, Greenberg still ranks as one of the most fearsome sluggers in baseball history. The powerful righthander played only the equivalent of nine-and-a-half seasons, yet produced outstanding career totals as well as exceptional season marks.

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RELATED LINKS » 1934: Happy New Year, Hank! » 1936: Pains and Streaks and Tears » 1941: That Magificent Streak » 1945: "The Tigers went into the ninth inning trailing 3-2, but loaded the bases against St. Louis screwballer Nelson Potter. That's when Hank Greenberg hit his grand-slam homer": Richard Tellis » 2000: Williams remembers Greenberg Photos » Photo: The heart of the Tigers lineup, 1935 » Photo: Hank Greenberg Book Excerpts » The Story of My Life by Hank Greenberg with Ira Berkow » "Greenberg, general manager for Cleveland, bet Buzzie Bavasi, general manager of the Dodgers, $10 that he wouldn't pay me what I asked for": Carl Erskine » "Hank, of course, was our big gun ... He had long arms and a big arc to his swing, so even if he was fooled on a pitch he could still hit the ball a long ways": Charlie Gehringer » Baseball in World War II Europe » Henry “Hank” Benjamin Greenberg from Bob Feller's Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom » Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era by Charles C. Alexander Submissions » Some More Jewish Baseball Players by Sam Person » The Jewish All-Star Team by Adam W. Green » Celebrating Hank Greenberg by Harvey Frommer Matchups » Who's Better: McGwire or Greenberg? Ask The Experts » What is the record for consecutive home runs? Around the Web » Rynomite feeling from suntimes.com » Hank Greenberg from baseball-reference.com » Hank Greenberg from thebaseballpage.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

A native New Yorker, Greenberg was the son of Rumanian-born Jewish immigrants who owned a successful cloth-shrinking plant. Hank graduated from James Monroe High School in the Bronx, then attended New York University on an athletic scholarship for one semester before beginning his professional baseball career. The 6'4" 215-lb Greenberg's athletic success stemmed from size, strength, and hard work, more than native talent. His high school coach explained: "Hank was so big for his age and so awkward that he became painfully self-conscious. The fear of being made to look foolish drove him to practice constantly and, as a result, to overcome his handicaps."

Greenberg tried out for the New York Giants but Giants Manager John McGraw, although constantly on the lookout for a Jewish star to attract New York's large Jewish population and impressed by Greenberg's powerful hitting, decided Hank was too clumsy and uncoordinated to help the Giants. Hank turned down a lucrative offer from the Yankees, realizing there would be little chance of making the ML with Lou Gehrig on first for the Bombers. He also rejected overtures from the Senators, who had Joe Judge. In January 1930 he signed with the Tigers.

After several minor league stops, he was called up to the Tigers in 1933. Still awkward in the field, though quick on his feet, he showed line-drive power, with 33 doubles, 12 homers, and a .301 batting average. In 1934 he cracked a league-leading 63 doubles and batted .339 with 26 homers and 139 RBI as the Tigers won the AL pennant. In the WS loss to the Gashouse Gang Cardinals, he hit .321 but struck out nine times.

The Tigers repeated as AL champs in 1935, spurred by Greenberg's league-topping 36 homers and 170 RBI. He was named AL MVP. He suffered a broken wrist in the second game of the WS and watched from the sideline as the Tigers defeated the Cubs. Off to an excellent start in 1936, with 16 RBI in 12 games, he broke the same wrist in a collision at first base and missed the rest of the season, amid speculation that his career was over.

Instead, he rebounded with 183 RBI in 1937, the third-highest total ever. He also hit 40 homers and batted .337. The next season he made a determined assault on Babe Ruth's 60 home run record. With five games to go, he had 58, to tie Jimmie Foxx's record for righthanded hitters, but he was unable to add to that total. He set a record for most multi-homer games in a season, with eleven.

In 1940, Greenberg shifted from his hard-won first base position to left field to enable the Tigers to find a regular lineup spot for hard-hitting but poor-fielding Rudy York. The result was a Detroit pennant, breaking the Yankees' streak of four straight pennants. Many credited Greenberg's willingness and ability to learn a completely new position as the key factor in Detroit's success. He hit .340 and led the AL in doubles (50), home runs (41), and RBI (150), and earned his second MVP award.

Greenberg, then a bachelor, was one of the first major leaguers inducted into the service, entering 19 games into the 1941 season. He was discharged from the army on December 5, 1941, two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He immediately enlisted as an officer candidate in the Air Corps. Hank served with distinction in the Far East until his discharge in mid-1945. He returned with a bang, with a home run in his first game. His grand slam on the final day of the season won the pennant for the Tigers. In the WS win over the Cubs, he hit two more homers and batted in seven runs.

He led the AL in homers (44) and RBI (127) again in 1946, but a salary dispute developed with the Tigers during the season. Rather than raise his salary, Detroit waived him out of the AL to Pittsburgh. Greenberg deeply resented learning of the deal from the radio rather than being informed in advance of the public announcement. The Pirates coaxed him into playing the 1947 season with a complicated contract that netted him between $100,000 and $145,000, making him the NL's first $100,000 player. A bullpen was built in front of Forbes Field's distant left field wall and fans quickly labeled it "Greenberg Gardens." Although he hit a disappointing .249, he contributed 25 home runs and served as a gate instructor. More important, he served as hitting instructor and advisor to his protege and friend, young Ralph Kiner. When Greenberg retired after the 1947 season, the left field bullpen became known as "Kiner's Korner."

In 1948 Cleveland owner Bill Veeck hired Greenberg as farm system director. He became general manager in 1950 and built the team that derailed the Yankees' string of pennants in 1954. Unable to purchase stock in the Indians, he moved to the White Sox as part owner and vice president as that team won the 1959 pennant. He retired from baseball in 1963 to become a successful investment banker. (FS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 6, 1933: Senators 2B Buddy Myer is carried off the field unconscious after being hit by a Whit Wyatt pitch, as Washington tops Detroit 6–2. Earl Whitehill wins despite giving up Hank Greenberg's first ML homer. » August 22, 1933: The front-running Senators are stopped after 13 straight wins when Detroit rookie Hank Greenberg homers in the ninth. » May 18, 1934: At Comiskey Park, Jimmie Foxx tees off against Ted Lyons and hits the first home run to ever land in the CF bleachers. Hank Greenberg will match Double X in 1938, then no one will reach the bleachers until Alex Johnston in 1970. Chicago still wins, 5–4. » June 30, 1934: In a 4–3, 10-inning loss to the Browns, Tiger CF Gee Walker is picked off base twice on the same playing, earning him a 10 day suspension for his ineptitude. After Hank Greenberg singles, Walker reaches base on a error, but then gets caught off base when C Rollie Hemsley fires to 1B. Greenberg attempts to draw a throw by running to 3B and is thrown out, with Walker taking 2B. Moments later, with Walker standing six feet off the bag "as brave as a boy on a burning deck" (writer Charles P. Ward's description), pitcher Jack Knott's throw to SS Alan Strange nabs him. Cochrane is so furious he suspends Walker and fines him $20—the 6th time this season that has earned a $20 fine. Gee's next appearance won't come until July 16 when he pinchhits for Cochrane. » May 20, 1935: Hank Greenberg collects two of his three RBIs in the 11th inning as Detroit tops the A's, 8–6. A's pitcher George Caster, heeding the advice of Jimmie Foxx, walks Gehringer in the last frame to pitch to Greenberg. » May 25, 1935: At Boston, Detroit wins, 3–2, on Hank Greenberg's 2-run homer in the 6th inning. In his previous at bat in the 4th inning, Greenberg's line drive hits pitcher Fritz Ostermueller breaking cheek bone and several teeth and sending him to the hospital. » June 23, 1935: The Senators capitalize on 11 walks to defeat the Tigers, 12–7. Hank Greenberg makes it close with a 9th inning grand slam off Hadley. » September 14, 1935: The Yankee split with the AL-leading Tigers, winning 2–1 and losing 5–1. Johnny Broaca is the winner in the opener over Crowder, while Lawson tops Brown in game 2. Hank Greenberg, leading the AL in hitting at .346, is 0-for-the afternoon, with five strikeouts. "The hooting and jeering which some of the fans turned loose against Hank wasn't much of a tribute to the sportsmanship of his home town" (New York American). » October 3, 1935: The Tigers even the Series behind Tommy Bridges 8-3, but lose Hank Greenberg who injures his wrist trying to score from first on a single. » October 20, 1935: Hank Greenberg is named AL MVP by the BBWAA; Wes Ferrell is runner-up. » March 26, 1936: Hank Greenberg signs a Tigers contract for $20,000, and Red Ruffing accepts $12,000 from the Yankees. » April 29, 1936: Tiger first sacker Hank Greenberg breaks his left wrist in a baseline collision with Washington's Jake Powell and is finished for the season. It will be suggested that Powell's anti-Semitism is behind the crash. This is the same wrist that Greenberg broke in the 2nd game of the 1935 World Series. The Tigers lose, 7–3 to Pete Appleton as they collect just two hits, one a 9th inning home run by Al Simmons. » May 22, 1937: Facing Wes Ferrell in Boston, Hank Greenberg hits a long centerfield home run out of Fenway Park. It exits to the right of the flag pole and is called the longest home run ever hit at Fenway. Gee Walker has three hits to run his hit streak to 26 straight games, but the Red Sox counter with 14 hits of their own to win, 11–9. Walker's streak will end on the 24th after 27 games. » May 30, 1937: Led by Hank Greenberg and Gee Walker, the Tigers collect 20 hits in pasting the Browns, 18–3. Greenberg is 5-for-5 with two homers, and Walker also has two homers in four hits while driving in seven runs. Rookie George Gill is the winner. » September 19, 1937: Hank Greenberg's HR in Detroit's 8-1 win over New York is the first ever hit into the CF stands at Yankee Stadium. » November 2, 1937: American League batting champ Charlie Gehringer is named MVP by the BBWAA receiving 78 out of a possible 80 points. Joe DiMaggio is a close second four points behind while Tiger teammate Hank Greenberg, who knocked in 183 runs, is a distant 3rd. Gehringer is the 3rd Tiger in four years to medal. » May 25, 1938: The Tigers use the long ball to defeat the Yankees, 7–3, at Detroit. Rudy York and Hank Greenberg hit back-to-back homers twice in the game. » May 27, 1938: Detroit's Hank Greenberg hammers a Frank Gabler pitch into the centerfield seats at Comiskey Park, the first slugger to reach the bleachers there. The Tigers win, 5–2, behind Vern Kennedy's 6-hitter. » July 27, 1938: Hank Greenberg of the Tigers, who had hit HRs his last two at bats the day before, homers his first 2 times up to tie the ML record of 4 in a row. » September 27, 1938: Hank Greenberg again hits 2 HRs, extending his record to 11 times in the same season. They are the last he will hit this season, as he falls 2 short of Ruth's 1927 record of 60. » February 15, 1940: The Tiger roster lists Hank Greenberg as an OF. The willingness of the team's leading power hitter to switch, at a contract boost, from 1B allows manager Del Baker to find a position for Rudy York. Also on the list are Dick Bartell, picked up from the Cubs for Billy Rogell, and Pinky Higgins, who had been shopped around. The four, along with Barney McCosky and Charlie Gehringer, produce the stuff that will move the Tigers from fifth to first, although its .588 mark will be as low as that of any pennant-winner yet. » May 21, 1940: Jimmie Foxx hits a grand-slam home run for the 2nd day in a row against Detroit in an 11–8 Red Sox win. Only Babe Ruth, twice, and Bill Dickey have slammed in consecutive days in the American League. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Doc Cramer also homer for Boston. Hank Greenberg and Rudy York homer for the Bengals, while Wally Moses has a pair of triples and two singles. » October 26, 1940: Detroit slugger outfielder Hank Greenberg is named the MVP in the American League with 292 points. Greenberg won the MVP honors in 1935 as a first baseman. Bob Feller is 2nd with 222 points. » January 8, 1941: The BBWAA in TSN poll names the 1940 All Star team: Hank Greenberg, LF; Joe DiMaggio, CF; Ted Williams, RF; Frank McCormick, 1B; Joe Gordon, 2B; Luke Appling, SS; Stan Hack, 3B; Harry Danning, C. The pitchers are Bob Feller, Bucky Walters, and Paul Derringer. » May 6, 1941: Playing in his last game before induction into the Army tomorrow, Hank Greenberg hits two home runs to lead Detroit to a 7–4 win over the Yankees. Each time he teams with Bruce Campbell to go back-to-back, the 2nd time in his career he's done it. Rudy York and he teamed up. A few days later OF Joe Gallagher of the Dodgers is drafted. No other regular ML player will be drafted during the season, but several others on training rosters will, as contemporary writers phrase it, "join the colors." » January 6, 1942: Bob Feller, winner of 76 games for the Indians in three previous seasons, follows Hank Greenberg into the military. Feller, saying "I've always wanted to be on the winning side," enlists in the Navy and reports to Norfolk, VA, for duty. » July 1, 1945: The first of the superstars returns from the war. Hank Greenberg, gone for four years, homers in his first game following his release from the army. Charlie Gassaway of the Athletics gives up the blow before 47,700 in a Sunday game at Briggs Stadium. The Tigers lead the Yankees by 3 1/2 games with Chicago and Boston following. » August 8, 1945: The Tigers split a pair with the Red Sox, winning 5–2 before losing 7–4 in 12 innings. In the 10th frame of the 2nd game, a line drive off the bat of Detroit's Hank Greenberg fractures the head of Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Jim Wilson, necessitating a 2-hour operation. Wilson will return to pitch 11 more years, but won't win another ML game till 1951. » September 30, 1945: Hank Greenberg's grand-slam HR in the 9th inning on the final day of the season beats the St. Louis Browns 6-3 and clinches the AL pennant for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers had been assured of a tie on September 26 when Newhouser won his 24th game, an 11-0 shutout of the Indians. There were 3 off days before the season finale today. The 2nd-place Senators had finished the season a week before, on the 23rd, to make Griffith Stadium available for pro football. » October 4, 1945: Returning war vets Virgil Trucks and Hank Greenberg produce a 4-1 Detroit win. Trucks, who pitched in only 5 innings of one game at the end of the season, pitches a complete game, giving up 7 hits. Greenberg's 3-run HR in the 5th wins the game. » October 6, 1945: Tavern owner "Billy Goat" Sianis buys a box seat for his goat for the 4th game of the WS and is escorted out of Wrigley Field. In retaliation Sianis casts a "goat curse" over the Cubs. The Tigers tie the series on Dizzy Trout's 5-hit 4-1 win. Detroit scores all its runs in the 4th, with Hank Greenberg, Roy Cullenbine, Paul Richards, and a force-out scoring the runners. » October 7, 1945: Hal Newhouser beats Hank Borowy 8-4. A 4-run 6th, including Hank Greenberg's double, provides the margin. » October 8, 1945: Stan Hack's double takes a tricky bounce over LF Hank Greenberg's shoulder with 2 outs in the 12th inning to give the Chicago Cubs an 8-7 win in the 6th game of the WS. Borowy pitches 4 scoreless innings in relief. » February 15, 1946: Detroit's Hank Greenberg signs for $60,000 and then marries New York department store heiress Carol Gimbel three days later. » January 18, 1947: The Pirates buy 1B Hank Greenberg from the Tigers for a reported $25,000 to $35,000 (The Baseball Encyclopedia lists $75,000). The veteran Greenberg led the American League in home runs with 44 in 1946 and the Pirates will pair him with young slugger Ralph Kiner, the National League home run leader. » April 15, 1947: In his National League debut, Hank Greenberg doubles home the only run in the 6th as the Pirates Rip Sewell wins the opener in Chicago 1–0. Hank Borowy takes the loss. » May 17, 1947: The Dodgers outhit the Pirates 12 to 4, but the Bucs win, 4–0, behind Fritz Ostermueller. Hank Greenberg's homer off Rube Melton in the first frame provides all the scoring until the 8th. Cookie Lavagetto has three hits, while Robinson, Furillo and Bruce Edwards collect a pair. The Dodgers have left 45 runners in five games, one reason they are 1–4 in that span. » August 2, 1947: The Giants hit five homers and set a club record of 144 in a split with the Pirates. The Ottmen take the lidlifter, 10–2, then lose, 5–4. Bobby Thomson has a pair of homers. The Pirates also tie a club record for homers with 86 as Hank Greenberg and Frankie Gustine go deep. » August 16, 1947: Ralph Kiner hits three successive home runs for the host Pittsburgh Pirates, in a 12–7 win over the Cardinals in a game in which the two clubs bang out major-league record (since topped) 10 homers. Two other Bucs, Hank Greenberg and Billy Cox, and one Cardinal (Whitey Kurowski) each contribute two home runs to set a major-league record for most players with 2+ homers in a game. Kiner matches the ML mark of seven home runs in four games, six in three games, five in two games, and four in consecutive at bats. By the end of the month, Big Ralph will still trail Mize 39 to 43 in a head-to-head home run competition that will only be matched by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Starters Roger Wolff and the Cards Ken Burkhart exit in the first inning. » May 27, 1948: Recently retired slugger Hank Greenberg buys an interest in the Cleveland club, becoming the Indians 2nd-largest stockholder. » November 21, 1949: Bill Veeck sells the Indians for $2.2 million to a local syndicate headed by Ellis Ryan. Hank Greenberg will be general manager. » December 18, 1952: In a shake-up of the Cleveland Indians, Hank Greenberg stays on as GM, while Ellis W. Ryan resigns as president after losing a showdown. Mike Wilson, who buys Ryan's share, will be the Indians new president. » November 3, 1953: The rules committee restores the 1939 rule, which says a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat. Also, the committee votes for "no gloves on the field rule." Hank Greenberg, who proposed the change, says "Aside from the possibility of hindering the play, gloves on the field look sloppy." The committee also makes a rule that any runner will be called out for deliberating running the bases backwards or even taking a lead off the base in the wrong direction. A new balk rule is instituted which gives the batter an option; if he gets a hit after a balk is called, he has the option of accepting the outcome of the pitch, instead of being limited to the advance of the runner(s). Rule suggestions rejected, as noted by Bob Timmerman, include: the legalization of the spitball, two bases for an intentional walk, and the option of declining ball four. » December 9, 1953: The leagues meet and adopt a resolution to set up a committee to weigh ending the pension fund in November of 1955. Hank Greenberg and John Galbreath are on the committee. Broadcast revenues from World Series and All-Star games are in dispute. » July 23, 1956: Joe Cronin and Hank Greenberg are officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY. » March 18, 1957: In what is believed to be the largest offer for a player ever made, the Indians reject a million-dollar offer for lefty Herb Score from Red Sox GM Joe Cronin. Cleveland GM Hank Greenberg refuses, saying that the team is interested in building for the future, not in selling its best ballplayers. » November 18, 1958: In a power struggle that has been brewing for some time within the Cleveland Indians organization, minority stockholders, led by Hank Greenberg, sell their stock to the majority stockholder, Chairman William Delay, who controls about 34 percent of the stock. Greenberg had proposed to Daley that he either buy Greenberg's group stock or sell his stock to the group. » May 9, 1959: Mrs. Dorothy Rigney, her husband John Rigney, and Hank Greenberg all resign their posts with the White Sox. » March 9, 1960: Hank Greenberg says efforts to settle the Veeck-Comiskey dispute have failed and that Charles Comiskey refuses to become a minority partner of the Veeck-Greenberg syndicate that controls the White Sox. » November 2, 1960: Hank Greenberg asks for AL dates at the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of the National League Dodgers. Greenberg and Bill Veeck are expected to run the new LA club in the AL. » November 17, 1960: Hank Greenberg drops out of the bidding to run the new American League franchise in Los Angeles. » June 12, 1961: An ailing Bill Veeck sells his interest in the White Sox to Arthur Allyn, a minority partner. Allyn also buys Hank Greenberg's stock to acquire a controlling interest. Greenberg remains as GM. » August 26, 1961: Ed Short becomes GM of the White Sox, replacing Hank Greenberg. » May 18, 1968: Frank Howard ties the American League record with a home run in his 6th consecutive game to lead Washington to an 8–4 win over Detroit. His 10 home runs in the six games are the most of all the record holders. Howard's 10 home runs (in 20 at bats) are also the most ever in one week (Sunday through Saturday). Earl Wilson will stop him tomorrow. For Detroit, Al Kaline belts a pinch-HR off Steve Jones. It is Kaline's 307th home run, surpassing Hank Greenberg's 306 in a Tiger uniform. » August 23, 1972: Chicago's Dick Allen becomes the 4th ML player (Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Alex Johnson are the others) to hit one into the CF bleachers in Comiskey Park when he connects off New York's Lindy McDaniel. The 2-run homer in the 7th ices the 5–2 win for the Sox. In 1972, all the Chicago Wednesday games are in the afternoon, and Harry Caray announces them while sitting in the CF bleachers. Allen's drive misses Caray by just a few rows. » July 18, 1975: In a 9–3 win over the Kansas City Royals, Boston's Jim Rice clouts a tremendous homer over the CF wall at Fenway, to the right of the flag pole, just the 6th player to accomplish this feat. Owner Tom Yawkey calls it the longest shot he's ever seen at Fenway. The others: Detroit's Hank Greenberg, May 22, 1937; Boston's Jimmie Foxx, August 12, 1937; Yankees Bill Skowron, April 20, 1957; Boston's Carl Yastrzemski, May 16, 1970; Brewers Bob Mitchell, September 29, 1973. » July 22, 1980: Atlanta's Bob Horner belts two home runs in a 7–5 win over the Expos, giving him 15 homers in his last 23 games and 13 in the month of July, just two short of the major-league record shared by Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio, and Joe Adcock. Horner will hit one more home run in July, and finish the season with a career-high 35. » September 22, 1997: Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 54th and 55th homers, overtaking Mark McGwire for the major league lead, as Seattle clinches a tie for the American League West title, defeating Oakland 4-2. Griffey now has the seventh-highest homer total in ML history, trailing only Roger Maris (61 in 1961), Ruth (60 in 1927), Babe Ruth (59 in 1921), Foxx (58 in 1932), Hank Greenberg (58 in 1938) and Hack Wilson (56 in 1930). Griffey's 55 homers are the most in the majors since Maris set the record in 1961. He has five games left, all at the Kingdome, to match Maris' mark. With three home runs, Seattle has 257 this season, tying the major league mark set by Baltimore last year.