Trivia

Though primarily a first baseman, Greenberg played left field in 1940, 1941 and 1945.

Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.

Attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx, later the alma mater of the original Mr. Met, Ed Kranepool.

While in Pittsburgh in 1947, he recorded the song "Goodbye Mr. Ball, Goodbye" with Bing Crosby, who at the time was minority owner of the Pirates.

Lost four seasons due to WW II.

While playing in Forbes Field for the Pirates, the area where he hit the majority of his homers was known as "Greenberg Gardens."

His ninth inning grand slam won the pennant for the Tigers in 1945.

American League MVP (1935, 1940).

Played in four World Series and two All-Star games.

Pictured on one of four USA 39¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring Baseball Sluggers, issued 15 July 2006. Other stamps in this set honor Roy Campanella, Mel Ott, and Mickey Mantle.

Inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Late in the 1934 season, Detroit was in a pennant race with the New York Yankees, and the issue arose whether Greenberg would play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. After consultation with his rabbi, he agreed to play on Rosh Hashanah, but on Yom Kippur he spent the day at his synagogue. The poet and newspaper columnist Edgar A. Guest published a poem about the controversy in the Detroit Free Press, titled "Speaking of Greenberg". The text of the poem is on Greenberg's web page at the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame website (see Miscellaneous Links).

For a time in 1943, Greenberg shared an apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas with William Holden while both of them were serving stateside in WWII.

Played for the American League's Detroit Tigers (1930-1941, 1945-1946), and the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1947).

Detroit Tigers All-Time Slugging Percentage Leader (.616).

Biography in: "American National Biography". Volume 9, pages 515-516. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Made major league debut on 14 September 1930 (only game played that season).

Brother of Joseph Greenberg and Lillian Greenberg-Golson.

Brother-in-law of Marilyn Greenberg.

Father (with Caral Gimbel) of Glenn Greenberg, Alva Greenberg, and Stephen Greenberg.

Grandfather of Duncan Greenberg

Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.

Father-in-law of Linda Vester.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 353-355. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.