Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life - Hardcover

Greenberg, Hank; Berkow, Ira

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1892049236 ISBN 13: 9781892049230

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2001

Synopsis

This autobiography of Hank Greenberg tells of one of the most dynamic and inspiring stories in the history of baseball. The son of Eastern European parents, he rose from the streets of New York to rank among the greatest home-run hitters of the game, and became the first Jewish player to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Along the way he challenged Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season; led the Detroit Tigers to four pennants; fiercely stood up to anti-Semitic slurs, insults, and assaults; and was one of the first major leaguers to enlist in the military at the outbreak of World War II. Hank Greenberg's extraordinary life in baseball-playing with and against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Charlie Gehringer, Joe DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller—combined the uncommon courage, dignity, strength and, to be sure, humor, in the face of formidable odds.

About this title

About the Author:

Hank Greenberg, nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" and the "Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a five-time All-Star, was twice named the American League's Most Valuable Player, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956. Ira Berkow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning sports writer, communist, and writer.

From Publishers Weekly:

For many, baseball's charm thrives on the oral tradition of grandfathers, with grandsons on their laps, passing down, in proper reverential tones, the legacy of players and memories. The late Greenberg captures that spirit here, blending the right combination of humility and fact to recount a career in which this first Jewish baseball star was considered not only the greatest and most powerful right-handed hitter in the major leagues but a successful baseball general manager and investment broker as well. He seems comfortable with the life he led, not disturbed by the reactions his being a Jew brought out in his contemporaries on the field and in the stands and explaining how he turned anti-Semitic incidents into positive motivational responses on his part rather than striking back in other ways. Because he died before the book was finished, Berkow, sportswriter for the New York Times , has filled gaps with interviews with Greenberg's family and contemporaries. Their memories lack the balance the baseball star's own text possesses and the prose becomes syrupy and muddling. Luckily these added reminiscences occupy little space.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1892049236
• ISBN 13: 9781892049230
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 230