HANK GREENBERG lk GEORGE'S HONEY TREE
s we bask in our national pastime and marvel at muscular grace on green fields, we
are drawn to the summers of our youth and to the legends that enshrined them. For
me, there is no more memorable figure than Hank Greenberg.
I was but a boy in 1933 when Hank began at first base for the Tigers. He was
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tall, flat-footed and awkward as captured by his sandlot sobriqueta Dig Bruggy.
But he steeled himself with discipline, hitting 'til his hands bled and willed him
' self to greatness. In 1934
he led the Tigers to their first pennant in 25 years, batting .339 with 26 home runs. The following year
he won them a World Series title with a league leading 36 home runs and a MVP award. In 1938 he
mesmerized the nation with 58 home runs, only two shy of Ruth's record. And in 1945 he immortalized
him
' self with a ninth inning grand slam that brought the Tigers another pennant.
Through these glory years, he served his country and his faith. In 1941 he was the first major
league "star" to be drafted. "I made up my mind to go when I was drafted. My country comes first."
He was greeted by 5,000 soldiers when he reported for duty at Camp Custer and he served in the army
for four years.
Hank also was a symbol of Judaism, standing virtually alone and suffering the persecution of big-
ots. "There was nobody in the history of the game who took more abuse than Greenberg unless it was
Jackie Robinson," said his teammate Birdie Tebbetts. Yet he excelled in the throes of anti-Semitism.
"As time went by, I came to feel that if I, as a Jew, hit a home run, I was hitting one against Hitler."
And he gained the admiration of his people. "We have had pogroms before; we have had wars before;
but never before have we had a Jewish home-run king" trumpeted a Jewish periodical.
In his own way, he also was observant of his faith. In 1934, during the final days of a heated pen-
nant race, his observance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur became national concerns. Detroit's
prominent rabbi Leo Franklin was called on for counsel and concluded that as Rosh Hashanah was a
day of celebration; Hank's play was appropriate. The front page of the Free Press headlined "Happy
New Year Hank" in Yiddish; and play he did, beating Loston with two home runs.
His parents and numerous rabbis, however, were distressed by his New Year's game; and ten days
later, on Yom Kippur, he entered his synagogue rather than his ballpark and was given "a tremendous
ovation" by the congregation. This inspired Edgar Guest to write the classic verses:
"We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat.
But he's true to his religion-and I honor him for that"
Beyond baseball, Hank led a charmed life. He became a wealthy investment banker. He married
two notable wives. His first was Clara Gimbel, whose family owned the Gimbel Brothers and Saks
Fifth Avenue Department stores; and his second was Mary Jo DeCicco, "a breathtakingly beautiful
movie actress." He also had "wonderful children who brought only joy and pride in their accomplish-
ments."
And Hank sustained his success with a proper appreciation of food, both in quantity and quality. As
a twenty-year old ballplayer in Beaumont, Texas, he feasted for a month on a $25 meal ticket awarded
him by one of the town's two restaurants. Three years later, as a Tiger's star, he dined regularly at Joe
Muir's Fish House, often to the standing ovation of patrons. And as a successful businessman in New
York, he was a favorite of Toots Shor.
If "Big Bruggy" were with us today, you would surely find him at George's Honey Tree in West
Bloomfield. Just like me, he would value the quantity-a signature Greek Chicken Salad serves both
lunch and dinner. He would esteem the quality-the delicacy of the whitefish, the savory juices of the
lamb shank, the sweetness of the baklava. And he would find in George the attentiveness and ami-
ability of Toots Shor.
So after a game, come by my table at George's Honey Tree. We'll drink some tea and talk of the
Tigers, and I'll tell you the tale of Hank's game for the Purple Gang.
"
L'chaiym,
Neil Klugman
September 13 • 2007
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