Hank Greenberg, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetHank Greenberg
Baseball outfielder
Date of Birth: 01-Jan-1911
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, United States
Date of Death: 04-Sep-1986
Profession: baseball player
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn 
About Hank Greenberg
- Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive.
- He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Detroit Tigers as a first baseman in the 1930s and 1940s.
- A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award winner, he was one of the premier power hitters of his generation and is widely considered as one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history.
- He had 47 months of military service including service in World War II, all of which took place during his major league career.Greenberg played the first twelve of his thirteen major league seasons for Detroit.
- He was an American League (AL) All-Star for four seasons and an AL MVP in 1935 (first baseman) and 1940 (left fielder).
- He had a batting average over .300 in eight seasons, and won two World Series championships with the Tigers (1935 and 1945).
- He was the AL home run leader four times and his 58 home runs for the Tigers in 1938 equaled Jimmie Foxx's 1932 mark for the most in one season by anyone but Babe Ruth, and tied Foxx for the most home runs between Ruth's record 60 in 1927 and Roger Maris' record 61 in 1961.
- Greenberg was the first major league player to hit 25 or more home runs in a season in each league, and remains the AL record-holder for most runs batted in in a single season by a right-handed batter (183 in 1937, a 154-game schedule).
- In 1947, Greenberg signed a contract for a record $85,000 salary before being sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played his final MLB season that year.
- After retiring from playing, Greenberg continued to work in baseball as a team executive for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. Greenberg was the first Jewish superstar in American team sports.
- He attracted national attention in 1934 when he refused to play on Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in Judaism, even though he was not particularly observant religiously and the Tigers were in the middle of a pennant race.
- He was one of the few opposing players to publicly welcome African-American player Jackie Robinson to the major leagues in 1947.
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