Vital Statistics:
Born: Jan. 1, 1911 in New York
Died: Sept. 4, 1986
Teams: Detroit Tigers (1930, 1933-41, 1945-46), Pittsburgh Pirates (1947)
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 1956
Height: 6-3
Weight: 210
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Primary position: First baseman
Career Highlights:
- Two-time American League MVP hit 331 home runs and batted .313 in 13 seasons of a career cut short by service in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
- The first Jewish sports star, he attracted national attention when he refused to play on Yom Kippur in 1934 when the Tigers were in a pennant race.
- Hit 58 homers in 1938, two short of Babe Ruth's record in 1938, and had more than 150 RBI in three seasons, including 183 (the third-highest total ever) in 1937.
- Won two World Series with the Tigers in 1935 and 1945.
After Retirement:
- Hired as farm system director for the Cleveland Indians in 1948, and became the Indians' GM in 1950 and built a pennant-winning team in 1954.
- Became part-owner of the White Sox and built another pennant winner in 1959.
- Retired from baseball in 1963 to become an investment banker, and returned as a minority partner in the White Sox in 1975.
- Greenberg's son, Stephen, co-founded the Classic Sports Network, which became ESPN Classic.
