Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin " Hank " Greenberg ( born January 1, 1911 in New York, NY, † September 4, 1986 in Beverly Hills, California ) was an American baseball player in Major League Baseball. His nickname was Hammerin ' Hank.
Biography
Hank Greenberg was born as the son of Jewish immigrants from Romania to New York City and completed his schooling at James Monroe High School in the Bronx. 1929 wanted to sign him, but because they already had an outstanding first baseman Lou Gehrig in the New York Yankees, he rejected this offer and accepted an athletic scholarship at New York University. At the University he stayed for a year until he committed the Detroit Tigers. His debut with the Tigers in the American League, he announced on September 14, 1930 against the Yankees. A permanent place in the team of the Tigers could Greenberg but secure until 1933, in the meantime he played among the teams in the Tigers minor league baseball. In his first full season he hit 12 home runs and 33 doubles at a stroke average of 30.1 %. In 1934 he rose to 26 home runs, 139 RBI and a batting average of 33.9 %. With these services, he helped his team to win the title in the American League, but in the World Series they were subject to the St. Louis Cardinals. A further increase in 1935 (36 homers, 170 RBI) won him the election of the MVP of the American League. The Tigers were able to win back the American League and contest the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. In the second game of the series on October 3, Greenberg broke while trying from first base to reach home plate the wrist and fell for the rest of the series, which won the Tigers from. After twelve games of the season 1936, Greenberg injured again on the same wrist and sat out the rest of the year.
Due to these injuries, there was speculation that Greenberg had to end his career, which he but clearly refuted by his performances in the following years. 40 home runs, 183 RBI and a batting average of 33.1 % were his success figures for the year 1937. The following year he chased the Homerunrekord of Babe Ruth. With 58 home runs he scored only two remained below the record of the Yankees legend. In 1940 he then moved from the first base to the outfield. In this position he was able to win his second MVP title. He led the American League this year in home runs, doubles and RBI. The Tigers were the Yankees for the first time pick up the title in the American League after four years, but failed due to the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.
In 1941, he played only 19 games before he was called up for military service. In his final game on May 18, Greenberg get two home runs against the New York Yankees. His next game after the military period he then on July 1, 1945 against the Philadelphia Athletics. In his first appearance he managed to blow right back a home run. On September 30 this year, Hank Greenberg managed a grand slam home run in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Browns to a 6-3 victory that secured the Tigers the title in the American League. In the World Series against the Chicago Cubs, the Tigers were able to prevail in seven games.
His last season played for the Tigers Hank Greenberg in 1946, before he even played for a short time in 1947 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his pro career ended on 18 September 1947. For the Tigers, its content should be reduced, which Greenberg to hiring prompted reflection on his resignation. The Tigers then sold him to the Pirates in which he is alleged to have earned the first baseball player over $ 100,000 per year. The co-owner of the Pirates, Bing Crosby, took with Groucho Marx and Greenberg on a song with the title Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye, which was to celebrate the arrival of Greenberg at the Pirates.
After his resignation, he was director of the farm system of the Cleveland Indians and two years later general manager of the Indians. He later became the co-owner of the Chicago White Sox. In 1963, he said goodbye to final of baseball and was an investment banker.
In 1956 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Since June 12, 1983 are no longer awarded the Tigers Greenberg's number 5 shirt. On September 4, 1986 Hank Greenberg died at the age of 75 years.