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Baseball player Hank Greenberg was one of the first Jewish superstars in American professional sports.He garnered national attention in 1934 when he refused to play baseball on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, even though the Tigers were in the middle of a pennant race. Hank GreenbergHenry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg (January 1, 1911, New York, New York -- September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation. He hit 58 home runs in 1938, equalling Jimmie Foxx's 1932 mark, as the most in one season by any player between 1927--when Babe Ruth set a record of 60--and 1961--when Roger Maris surpassed it. He was a five-time All-Star, was twice named the American League's Most Valuable Player, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956. In 1932, one of his teammates (Jo-Jo White) walked slowly around Greenberg, staring at him. Greenberg asked him what he was looking at. White said he was just looking, as he'd never seen a Jew before. "The way he said it," noted Greenberg, "he might as well have said, 'I've never seen a giraffe before.'" I let him keep looking for a while, and then I said, 'See anything interesting?'" Looking for horns and finding none, White said, "You're just like everyone else." Late in the 1934 season, he announced that he would not play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Fans grumbled, "Rosh Hashanah comes every year but the Tigers haven't won the pennant since 1909." Greenberg did considerable soul-searching, and discussed the matter with his rabbi; finally he relented and agreed to play on Rosh Hashanah, but stuck with his decision not to play on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Of the latter decision, Detroit Free Press columnist and poet Edgar A. Guest expressed the general opinion in a poem titled "Speaking of Greenberg," in which he used the Irish (and thus Catholic) names Murphy and Mulroney. The poem ends with the lines "We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat / But he's true to his religion--and I honor him for that." World War II service. The Detroit draft board initially classified Greenberg as 4F for "flat feet." Rumors that he had bribed the board, and concern that he would be likened to Jack Dempsey, who received negative publicity for failure to serve in World War I, led Greenberg to be reexamined, and he was found fit to serve. Although drafted in 1940, he was honorably discharged after the United States Congress released men aged 28 years and older from service, being released on December 5, 1941, two days before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Greenberg re-enlisted and volunteered for service in the United States Army Air Forces. He graduated from Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. Abbreviated career. Starring as a first baseman and outfielder with the Detroit Tigers (1930, 1933-46), and briefly with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1947), he played only 9 full seasons. He missed 3 full seasons and most of 2 others to military service during World War II, and missed most of another season with a broken wrist. It is often estimated that Greenberg, had he played in another era uninterrupted by war, would have amassed between 500 and 600 home runs and 1,800 to 2,000 RBI. As it is, his totals of 331 home runs and 1,276 RBI are amazing for a 1,394-game career. He also hit for average, batting .313. Pittsburgh Pirates Team co-owner Bing Crosby recorded a song, "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye" with Groucho Marx and Greenberg, to celebrate Greenberg's arrival. The Pirates also reduced the size of Forbes Field's cavernous left field, renaming the section "Greenberg's Gardens," to accommodate Greenberg's pull-hitting style. Greenberg played first base for the Pirates for 1947, and was one of the few opposing players to publicly welcome Jackie Robinson to the majors.

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Uploaded: July 16th, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
Author: myzeidi

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