GREENBERG, Henry Benjamin ("Hank")

(b. 1 January 1911 in New York City; d. 4 September 1986 in Beverly Hills, California), first Jewish baseball player enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) who was widely acclaimed for his hitting ability and respected for his good sportsmanship.

Greenberg was the third of four children of David Greenberg and Sarah Schwartz, both immigrants from Romania. The family lived in Manhattan where Greenberg's father owned the Acme Textile Shrinking Works and his mother was a homemaker. Orthodox Jews, the Greenbergs kept a kosher home in which both English and Yiddish were spoken.

In his autobiography, Greenberg recalled that, when the family moved to the Bronx when he was six or seven, "it was also the turning point of my life because of Crotona Park, its large athletic field, and school sports." A tall, ungainly youth who eventually attained a height of six feet, four inches, Greenberg's love of sports developed early, much to the dismay of his parents, who prized education and envisioned professional careers for their children. He spent countless hours playing baseball, basketball, and even, at James Monroe High School, a little football; baseball, however, was always his major obsession.

With a determination to excel that continued throughout his career, Greenberg practiced long hours, honing his skills and taming the awkwardness that came with his large body and flat feet. During his years in the major leagues, he would hire peanut vendors and park attendants to shag balls for him as he practiced before games. Celebrated sportswriter Red Smith wrote that Greenberg "earned all the honors that came to him."

In the interim between graduation from high school in February 1929 and commencement of fall classes at New York University (NYU), where he had been awarded an athletic scholarship, Greenberg played semiprofessional baseball in the Blackstone Valley League in Massachusetts. During his stint with the East Douglas team, several major league scouts expressed interest, but it was the Detroit Tigers that eventually signed Greenberg to a contract. Subsequently, he completed one semester at NYU, but then dropped out to concentrate on baseball; his father, who viewed the sport as merely a game, conceded it was an acceptable business after learning of his son's $9,000 salary offer.

Greenberg's career with the Tigers did not begin auspiciously. Assigned first to a Triple-A team, as provided in his contract, he saw rapid demotions to lower-level leagues as his batting and fielding skills failed to live up to promise. It was not until 1932, while playing in the Texas League, that he began to emerge as a power hitter and competent first baseman; that year, he was voted MVP in the league. In 1933 he was called up to the Tigers.

In his long career with the Tigers, Greenberg brought glory to himself as well as to his team. In addition to his athletic feats, he won the respect of the fans, writers, and other players by remaining dignified in the face of rampant anti-Semitism. With the Tigers fighting for the pennant in 1934, Greenberg was faced with the dilemma of playing on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year—should he betray his heritage or let down his teammates? A last-minute dispensation from Detroit's chief rabbi led to two home runs and a win for the Tigers. Greenberg's father, however, laid down the law with regard to his son playing on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, and Greenberg declined to play that day. This courageous act was memorialized in a poem by Edgar Guest in the Detroit Free Press ending with, "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!"

Greenberg was named the American League's MVP in 1935 and 1940. In 1938 he hit fifty-eight home runs, coming close to matching Babe Ruth's (at that time) record. There were rumors, which Greenberg discounted, that pitchers deliberately walked him in the last few games of the season because they did not want a Jew breaking Ruth's record. Although he did not surpass Ruth, he led the American League in home runs in 1935, 1938, 1940, and 1946; was first in RBI in 1935, 1937, 1940, and 1946; and played in four World Series. To accommodate the team's needs, he switched from first base to left field in 1940 and excelled at that position as well.

Drafted into the U.S. Army in May 1941, Greenberg was discharged because of age just days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Placing duty to his country ahead of personal glory, he immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and rose to the rank of captain, serving as commander of a B-29; he did not play baseball again until 1 July 1945.

He came back to the Tigers in grand style, winning the pennant for them by hitting a grand slam home run in the ninth inning on the last day of the season. However, the war years and age were beginning to take their toll on his ability to hit. In what Greenberg considered an act of betrayal, the Tigers sold him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1947. He retired as an active player after one season with the National League team. Continuing in the sport he loved, he spent the years 1948 to 1957 as general manager of the Cleveland Indians; from 1959 to 1961 he was vice president of the Chicago White Sox. Greenberg was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956.

Focused on baseball, Greenberg avoided the drinking and carousing typical of players during his era. His work ethic left little time for socialization or other activities, although later in life he enjoyed tennis and squash. His marriage in 1946, when he was described as baseball's most eligible bachelor, to department store heiress Caral Gimbel ended in divorce in 1958; they had three children.

Astute financially, Greenberg brokered lucrative contracts for himself and was steadfast and creative in his monetary demands from team owners. When he was drafted into the army, he was commanding a salary second only to Babe Ruth in his prime. In 1947 the Pittsburgh Pirates paid him the then-astounding sum of $100,000. After his retirement from baseball, Greenberg pursued a successful career as an investor.

Greenberg died at age seventy-five at his home after a long struggle with cancer, a battle he kept from public knowledge. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary Jo DiCicco (née Tarola). Interment was at Hillside Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

Stories about Greenberg extol not only his athleticism but also his hard work and dedication to the sport of baseball. Having endured prejudice himself, he provided moral support to Jackie Robinson when he became the first African American in the major leagues. Greenberg is remembered as a player whose demeanor made him a role model for fans and players alike.

Greenberg contemplated writing his autobiography but died before completing the task. Ira Berkow was asked by the family to write the book, which he did by using tapes dictated by Greenberg and through much additional research. Berkow wished to present the book as an autobiography, and it is written in the first person: Hank Greenberg, The Story of My Life, edited and with an introduction by Ira Berkow (1989). A documentary film, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (2000), examines his career from the standpoint of his Jewishness. The film was reviewed by Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times (12 Jan. 2000). Red Smith, "Hating to See Hank Go," New York Herald Tribune (17 Aug. 1946), is an essay on Greenberg's rumored impending retirement. Steve Rushin discusses Greenberg's patriotism in an article in Sports Illustrated (16 July 2001). An obituary is in the New York Times (5 Sept. 1986).

Myrna W. Merron