An associate of the sport’s Hall of Fame, he was among the highest power hitters of his generation and is widely considered as among the best sluggers in baseball history. A first baseman mainly for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was a five-time All Star and two time American League MVP. He was the first major league player to hit 25 or more home runs in a season in every league, and stays the American League (AL) record holder for most RBIs in one season with a right handed hitter (183 in 1937, a 154-game schedule).
In 1947 Greenberg signed a contract using a $30,000 raise to a record $85,000 before being sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was among the few opposing players to openly welcome Jackie Robinson that year to the major leagues.
Greenberg was the very first Jewish star in American team sports. He brought national interest in 1934 when he refused to play on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, despite the fact that the Tigers were at the center of a pennant race and he never promised to be a religiously observant, practicing Jew.
Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, United States
Height
1.93 m
Profession
Baseball player
Education
New York Law School, University of Miami
Nationality
American
Spouse
Corinne Zuckerman
Children
Alva Greenberg, Glenn Greenberg, Stephen Greenberg
Parents
Sarah Greenberg, David Greenberg
Siblings
Ben Greenberg, Lilian Greenberg, Joseph Greenberg
Awards
American League Most Valuable Player Award
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Quote
1
Home run hitters drive Cadillacs; singles hitters drive Fords. ("Tribe Memories: The First Century" by Russell Schneider, Moonlight Publishing, 2000)
2
When I was playing, I used to resent being singled out as a Jewish ballplayer. I wanted to be known as a great ballplayer, period. I'm not sure why or when I changed, because I'm still not a particularly religious person. Lately, though, I find myself wanting to be remembered not only as a great ballplayer, but even more as a great Jewish ballplayer.
3
"It's just as well. There was no way I could have eaten all that gefilte fish." Greenberg on falling three short of breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record in 1938. If he broke the record, his mother promised him 61 baseball-shaped pieces of gefilte fish.
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Fact
1
For a time in 1943, Greenberg shared an apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas with William Holden while both of them were serving stateside in WWII.
2
Inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.
3
Late in the 1934 season, Detroit was in a pennant race with the New York Yankees, and the issue arose whether Greenberg would play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. After consultation with his rabbi, he agreed to play on Rosh Hashanah, but on Yom Kippur he spent the day at his synagogue. The poet and newspaper columnist Edgar A. Guest published a poem about the controversy in the Detroit Free Press, titled "Speaking of Greenberg". The text of the poem is on Greenberg's web page at the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame website (see Miscellaneous Links).
4
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 353-355. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
Inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
7
Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.
8
Pictured on one of four USA 39¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring Baseball Sluggers, issued 15 July 2006. Other stamps in this set honor Roy Campanella, Mel Ott, and Mickey Mantle.
Made major league debut on 14 September 1930 (only game played that season).
14
Biography in: "American National Biography". Volume 9, pages 515-516. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
15
Detroit Tigers All-Time Slugging Percentage Leader (.616).
16
Played in four World Series and two All-Star games.
17
Though primarily a first baseman, Greenberg played left field in 1940, 1941 and 1945.
18
American League MVP (1935, 1940).
19
His ninth inning grand slam won the pennant for the Tigers in 1945.
20
While playing in Forbes Field for the Pirates, the area where he hit the majority of his homers was known as "Greenberg Gardens."
21
Lost four seasons due to WW II.
22
While in Pittsburgh in 1947, he co-recorded the song "Goodbye Mr. Ball" with the minority owner of the Pirates. His name was Bing Crosby.
23
Attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx, later the alma mater of the original Mr. Met, Ed Kranepool.
24
Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1956. Played for the American League's Detroit Tigers (1930-1941, 1945-1946), and the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1947).
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Kid from Cleveland
1949
Hank Greenberg - Cleveland Indians Player
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
1998
Documentary performer: "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye"
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
1998
Documentary in loving memory of - as Hammerin' 'Hank' Greenberg
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
1984 MLB All-Star Game
1984
TV Special
Himself - AL Honorary Captain
The Ed Sullivan Show
1962
TV Series
Himself
World Wide '60
1960
TV Series
Himself - Interview subject
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
MLB Network Presents
2016
TV Series
Himself
Prime 9
2010
TV Series
Himself
DHL Presents Major League Baseball Hometown Heroes
2006
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
War Stories with Oliver North
2006
TV Series documentary
Himself
100 Years of the World Series
2003
Video documentary
Himself
The 20th Century: A Moving Visual History
1999
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Race for the Record
1998
Video documentary
Himself - Interview About Babe Ruth
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
1998
Documentary
Himself
Baseball
1994
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
When It Was a Game
1991
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Known for movies
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998) as Thanks
The Kid from Cleveland (1949) as Hank Greenberg - Cleveland Indians Player
1984 MLB All-Star Game (1984) as Himself - AL Honorary Captain
World Wide '60 (1960) as Himself - Interview subject
$50 Million
