The story related how Greenberg “could be earning a very comfortable living outside of baseball and probably with much less effort. But ‘Hank’ wouldn’t get nearly as much fun out of working with his father in the textile industry as he does in driving in runs. . . .

“For some reason he always had trouble hitting in Yankee Stadium, with many of his friends in the grandstand and bleachers. Perhaps he was pressing too hard, trying to make an impression for his friends. However, recently he found the range of Yankee pitching, smashing out 2 long home runs, a double and single in five trips to the plate.”

The article also stated that Greenberg had 25 home runs (as of July 5) and Babe Ruth had 26 that date in 1927, the year he set the single-season record of 60.

About a week before that, Greenberg learned that Gehrig had been named to first base on the American League All-Star team. In a doubleheader on that day with the Browns, Greenberg hit 3 homers and boosted his RBI total to 85. After the game, wrote Charles Ward in the Detroit Free Press, “Hank sat in a secluded corner of the lobby of the Tiger hotel and thoughtfully puffed on a cigar.

“‘How many RBIs have I got?’ he asked an acquaintance. “‘Eighty-four,’ he was told.

“‘You’re wrong,’ he replied. ‘The number is eighty-five.’

“‘How many does Gehrig have?’ he asked after a few puffs of his cigar.

“‘You don’t know, eh? Well, he’ll be batting for quite a while before he gets up to eighty-five.’”

The Tigers traveled to Philadelphia and one morning Greenberg was opening his mail at the breakfast table, which he was sharing with Bud Shaver of the Detroit Times. “Greenberg passed across a letter, scrawled in a childish hand with pencil on cheap, blue-ruled tablet paper,” wrote Shaver. “It was from a 13-year-old Jewish girl. There were a few misspelled words.

“Hank is no cad. He wouldn’t give out a letter for publication even from a 13-year-old, but there are one or two things in the letter we are privileged to reveal.

“To that little 13-year-old girl, Hank is a Jew in shining armor. She had been bitterly disappointed in Max Baer [the Jewish boxer who had lost the heavyweight championship to Jimmy Braddock in June of 1935] and was banking all on Hank. She begged him not to fail her or his people. There are thousands of little boys and girls like her.

“‘You have an immense responsibility,’ we remarked, passing it back.

“Hank’s face was grave as he tucked the soiled little letter away in his pocket.

“‘Yes, I have,’ he said soberly.”

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