Happy Birthday to the late and great, Hank Greenberg. In a 13-year career that had interruptions between World War II and injuries, Greenberg established himself as one of the best sluggers of his era and one of the greatest sluggers of all time. Greenberg, primarily playing First Base, spent his first twelve seasons with the Detroit Tigers and his last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Career Statistics/Accolades (1930; 33-41; 45-47):
.313 BA 1,628 HITS 331 HR 1,274 RBI .412 OBP 1,046 RUNS
- 5x All-Star
- 2x MVP (1935 & 1940)
- 2x World Series Champion (1935 & 1945)
As a Hitter
Greenberg is one of the greatest Right Handed hitters of all-time. Yes, he was a pure slugger, driving in 100+ RBI seven times and leading in RBIs and HRs four times. But the guy made contact, having nine seasons of batting .300 or higher while averaging 189 Hits a season for a career. The rest of his hits weren’t just singles; for a right-handed hitter, he led the league in Doubles twice, as high as 63 in 1934. Also, Greenberg had patience at the plate, drawing more Walks in his career than Strikeouts while leading in Walks twice. Along with his patience and ability to make contact, Greenberg had an OBP of .400 or higher nine times.
As a Fielder
Being great defensively at any position obviously takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. However, at First Base, it is one of the more accessible positions to be good defensively at once you get the hang of it. It took some time for Greenberg, but over the span of 9,999 Innings, Greenberg established himself as an above-average defender with a .991 Fielding Percentage. Later, he moved to Left Field to accommodate the Tigers and was never able to get into the hang of the position because he missed years due to the war and started dealing with injuries.
Best Years
Hank Greenberg took home the MVP in 1935 and 1940, finishing 3rd in 1937 and 1938. Some say that those were his best seasons. However, I would argue that his best was in 1937, when he drove in 184 RBIs, losing to his teammate Charlie Gehringer, who, despite playing in fewer games, had a slightly better year. Then, in 1938, despite leading the league in HR, Runs, Walks, and having a career-high.438 OBP, Jimmie Foxx slightly had a better year.
1935: .328 BA 203 HITS 36 HR 168 RBI .411 OBP 120 RUNS (152 Games)
1937: .337 BA 200 HITS 40 HR 184 RBI .436 OBP 137 RUNS (154 Games)
1938: .315 BA 175 HITS 58 HR 147 RBI .438 OBP 143 RUNS (155 Games)
1940: .340 BA 195 HITS 41 HR 150 RBI .433 OBP 129 RUNS (148 Games)
In terms of the greatest power hitters, first baseman, as well as right handed hitters, Greenberg is among the best. Due to WWII, he missed most of 1941, 42-44 in its entirety, as well as most of 1945. He missed out on three to five more MVP-caliber seasons. In 1936 and his final three years, Greenberg had issues with some nagging injuries, which also limited him. However, for his entire career, when Greenberg was on the field, he was unstoppable as one of the best hitters in the game. In 1946, his final season with Detroit, while battling injuries, he led the league in Home Runs (44) and Runs Batted In (127). The following year was his last year as well as his lone year with Pittsburgh, and while only playing in 125 games he led the league in Walks (104).
Legacy
Had it not been for WWII and Injuries, you are talking about a guy who would’ve easily cruised past the 500 Home Run and 1,500 Runs Batted milestones. Like Sandy Koufax, his career is a little short for a Hall of Famer; however, the years he played were so dominant that you couldn’t not include him. In 1956, Greenberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his eighth ballot. In 1983, the Tigers retired his #5 jersey and Gehringers’ #2 jersey on the same day. In 1999, he was ranked #37 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Ballplayers.
References:
- Hank Greenberg via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Greenberg#
- Hank Greenberg Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/greenha01.shtml
MLB Past & Present 