For the last few week I have posted the baseball birthday quote of the day on another site, but now this will be the permanent home in 2017 so come visit every day for the baseball birthday quote of the day.
Today's Birthday Quote is about Hank Greenberg. Hankus Pankus was born on January 1, 1911. He spent every year of his career with the Tigers outside of his final season with the Pirates.
The great Hall of Fame power hitter was the American League MVP in both 1935 and 1940. In '37, he had 184 RBIs (still an American League record) and in 1938, he hit 58 home runs.
He was a hero of my childhood as there were not a lot of great Jewish ballplayers and my dad would frequently talk about him. He famously didn't play on Yom Kippur during the World Series. He was also the first Jewish player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He was also a hero because of his military service. He missed three full seasons and parts of two seasons because of World War II. He would have easily hit over five hundred home runs if he did not serve on World War II. Like my dad, another American hero, he spent a lot of the war in India, China and Burma.
Call him the Hebrew Hammer, Hammerin' Hank or Hankus Pankus, but he is an all-time great player and person. Happy Birthday to Hank Greenberg.
"Hank Greenberg has class. It stands out all over him."--Jackie Robinson
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