Close Up

Right:

Opening day with the Detroit Tigers.

Below:

Irwin Cohen

Bottom:

The Tigers' opening day lineup in 1940 included: Barney McCosky, Bruce
Campbell, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Rudy York, Pinky Higgins,
Dick Bartell, Birdie Tebbetts and Bobo Newsom.

and Jewish pride, and I don't think Jewish
players today have that."
Detroit resident Harriet Berg remem-
bers as a young teen-ager waiting on the
steps of Congregation Shaarey Zedek for
Mr. Greenberg to show up for High Holi-
day services.
"He was good-looking and very well-
groomed," she said. "He was a person who
had the same faith as you, and he was
prominent in a larger audience."
Mr. Steinberg said Mr. Greenberg was
the "total identity" of the Jewish people
everywhere during a time when the Holo-
caust was happening.
"There was no Jewish denial on his
part," said Mr. Steinberg. "He always felt
strongly that he was a role model, and he
knew the Jewish community was looking
to him. He also knew that he had a big
following of immigrants."

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Non-Jewish baseball fans also ap-
plauded his efforts, according to Mr. Stein-
berg, because Greenberg was d'finisher.
He could get the job done when it was nec-
essary. Some fans, said Steinberg, saw him
exclusively as a Jewish athlete. Others re-
spected him as an athlete, period.
University of Michigan-Dearborn His-
tory Professor Dr. Sidney Bolkosky wrote
about Mr. Greenberg's dramatic effect on
both the Jewish and non-Jewish commu-
nities in his book Harmony & Dissonance,

Voices of Jewish Identity in Detroit, 1914-
1967 .

Dr. Bolkosky recalled in his book how
Rabbi Hershman had to issue a call for
quiet during 1934 Rosh Hashanah ser-
vices at Shaarey Zedek. There was an
obvious murmur as Mr. Greenberg entered
the sanctuary. That day, Mr. Greenberg
had to decide whether or not to play

in a crucial game against the Red Sox.
Apparently, Mr. Greenberg received ad-
vice from Rabbi Hershman or Rabbi Jacob
Thumin of Beth Abraham, the Galitzianer
shul. Rabbi Thumin pointed out a passage
in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Hayim, 518,
that could be interpreted as permitting
ball playing on Rosh Hashanah.
Dr. Bolkosky wrote that the people gath-
ered on the Shaarey Zedek steps to watch
Mr. Greenberg go straight from services
to Navin Field where he would hit two
homers to lead the Tigers over the Red Sox,
2-1.
Mr. Greenberg did not play on Yom Kip-
pur during the pennant race, but the
Tigers would win the 1934 American
League title. They lost the World Series to
the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3. The follow-
ing year, the Tigers won the World Series
over Chicago, 4-2. Mr. Greenberg was

selected the American League's Most
Valuable Player.
"He was probably the greatest symbol,
the most visible symbol of Judaism in the
country," said Mr. Steinberg. "At Hank's
time, he was unique in that people iden-
tified with him when discrimination was
rampant."
And according to Mr. Steinberg, Hank
Greenberg was one of the major leaguers
instrumental in guiding Jackie Robinson
to stay strong and fight the discrimination
he faced in breaking baseball's color
barrier.
"Hank Greenberg never denied what he
was," said Mr. Steinberg. "The night we
had dinner in June of 1983 at the number
retirement, Hank and I had an interest-
ing discussion about Judaism. He never
purported to be a heavily religious Jewish
person. He said that he looked at himself
as a ball player who happened to be
Jewish. -
"He always said it was extremely im-
portant to him that he not only repre-
sented himself and the Tigers, but that he
represented himself as a Jew as well. He
knew there were hundreds of Jewish
people who were looking to him."
So, now quick, name five Detroit Tigers.
How about one great one? ❑

Greenberg Facts:

Born: Jan. 1, 1911
Died: Sept. 4, 1986
Wore Tiger Uniform: 1930-41; 1945-46.
Traded to Pittsburgh in 1947
Career Years:
58 HR in 1938
183 RBI in 1937
Hit .339 in 1934
Career .313 average
MVP, 1935, 1940
Baseball Hall of Fame: 1956

