As we mark the beginning of baseball season this week in 2007, it's a good opportunity to remember the contributions of Hammerin' Hank Greenberg on the baseball field and to the cause of social and religious tolerance in the modern world.
Greenberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956, and in just nine full seasons finished with a career batting average of .313, along with 331 home runs and 1276 RBI.
Tiger great Hal Newhouser said of Greenberg that if he had to pick one batter to drive in a run in a crucial situation, he would pick Hank Greenberg over greats like Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio. Unless, of course, the batter would be facing Greenberg's arch-nemesis, the great Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller!
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Article comments
1 - MCH
What's amazing about Greenberg are his power-hitting stats. Besides the 58 homers, some of his top season numbers include:
63 doubles, 50 doubles
16 triples, 14 triples
183 RBI, 170 RBI
.683 slugging percentage, .670 slugging percentage
I mean, the guy flat-out hit the ball HARD!!