12 | OCTOBER 24 • 2019 

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the game so fans could walk 
around and reflect.
The Detroit Jewish com-
munity was well represented 
(I used my connections), 
and the old ballpark had 
its first and last minyan for 
Mincha and Maariv under 
the stands of the upper deck 
left field corner.
When it came time for 
closing ceremonies, fans 
stood and cameras clicked 
as 63 former Tigers play-
ers trotted out (some were 
driven in golf carts) from 
behind the center field 
flagpole to their former 
positions. The biggest cheer 
of the evening came when 
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych 
flew out and headed straight 
to the pitching mound, 
dropped to his knees, and 
used the pitching hand that 
led the league in 1976 to 
scoop dirt from the mound 
into a plastic bag. Fidrych 
then stood up, took off 
his cap and waved it in all 
directions as he circled the 
mound.
Since that memorable 
evening 20 years ago, more 
than half of the 63 former 
players (including Fidrych) 
have died. But as long as 
there are baseball cards and 
a new generation of collec-
tors, the names, faces and 
records of the players from 
previous generations will 
live on.

A SPECIAL PLAYER
One name that will live on 
from previous generations 
to future generations will be 
Hank Greenberg. 
No Detroit Tiger hit as 
many home runs in a sin-
gle season (58 in 1938). No 
Detroit Tiger drove in as 
many runs in a single season. 
Greenberg had 183 RBI in 
1937, an amazing number as 
teams played 154 games in 
a season then instead of the 

162 today.
Greenberg, the only 
Detroit Tiger to have hit five 
World Series home runs, 
also missed about four-and-
a-half baseball seasons due 
to military service, more 
than any Tiger player and 
more than almost all major 
league players.
It’
s only fitting that 
the story of this genu-
ine hero lives on in the 
Hank Greenberg Walk of 
Heroes located about where 
Greenberg lockered in the 
Tigers clubhouse. It’
s a great 
place for fans to browse and 
learn about other heroes 
in other sports, but none 
achieved the accomplish-
ments and adoration as 
Greenberg reached.
After you digest the 
Greenberg display, step 
outside on the same field 
that Greenberg played on 
and head to the batter’
s box 
and look out to the pitcher’
s 
mound. You’
ll see the same 
flagpole that Greenberg did 
in distant center field.
You may even sit in the 
old green wooden seats 
behind home plate where 
fans actually watched 
Greenberg play generations 
ago. Take your friends, 
children and grandchildren 
and pass on your memories 
so that they may live on in 
future generations.
You may even tell them 
of a Jewish Tigers employee 
who counted and stood by 
each and every seat in the 
double-decked old ballpark 
and viewed the diamond 
from every possible angle. 

Irwin Cohen has authored many 
articles on Detroit history and 
wrote the iconic “Echoes of 
Detroit’
s Jewish Communities.” He 
will be speaking to a large group 
of Detroiters who winter in Florida 
in February. Call Jewish Historical 
Society for information.

Cohen from page 10

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