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 Hank Greenberg Photo Gallery
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Hank Greenberg Sent Packing From Detroit…For Being Photographed Wearing a Yankee Jersey!

You’re probably wondering why I chose for the featured photo a pic of the Tigers’ great  Hall-of-Fame slugger Hank Greenberg in a Pirates’ uniform. Read on to find out why!

In visiting the National Pastime “This Day in Baseball History” website recently, I stumbled on to this little-known gem:

It turns out that back in 1947, the great Hall-of-Famer, Hank Greenberg, who just happened to be the 1946 American League home run leader with 44, was banished from the Tigers and basically given away to the Pirates for the paltry sum of $35,000. He had returned to the Tigers after three seasons lost to military service and was now aged 35. Word soon got out that the Tigers’ “higherups” had wanted Greenberg gone, and so they were more than willing to send him packing while receiving very little in return.

After years of superstar production in Detroit, and after all that he had meant to the city, I’m sure you must be wondering what in the world was Greenberg’s “crime” that warranted such a vindictive end to his tenure in Detroit.

Of course, there’s a bit more to the story leading up to Greenberg’s quick dismissal. In the winter of 1946, he was in a salary dispute with Tigers’ owner, Walter Briggs (he of Briggs stadium fame). Hank had even applied for the General Manager job but was turned down. So there was some bitterness brewing on both sides.

In the middle of the dispute, a photo dating back to 1943 turned up showing Greenberg wearing a jersey of the Tigers’ hated rival, the New York Yankees!

Apparently, this unforgivable act of insubordination was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” It was all Briggs needed to see. For this sin, Greenberg had to go. He was soon shown the door with the old “pink slip” in hand. Hank was said to be distraught over the decision.

But wait…reading the details of the story, it gets even more bizarre.

Would an owner actually give away one of the franchise’s all-time greats over a petty infraction like this? Sort of makes you wonder how on earth someone with such a small mind could rise to the level of major league baseball ownership. It turns out that what so infuriated Briggs necessitating such a rash move wasn’t even Greenberg’s fault. Well, at least not directly…

Some of you are familiar with the War Bonds Game, played at the Polo Grounds in the summer of 1943. The purpose of the game was to raise money for the war

effort. It was basically a meaningless exhibition game played with many of the game’s biggest current and retired stars, including Babe Ruth. A good time was had by all, nobody got hurt, and an ample sum was raised.

Check out this description of the game:

In the summer of 1943, Greenberg joined Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, and other past and present stars in the All-Star War Bond Game at the Polo Grounds. While the players would play the actual game in a special All-Stars uniform, everyone wore their team jerseys for the public practice the day before. Unfortunately, Greenberg had forgotten to bring his Tigers uniform with him, so they came up with a makeshift solution: Someone found a Yankees jersey that happened to fit, and Greenberg threw it on and headed to the field.

So Hank was innocent of the charge! If only he had remembered to pack properly!

Of course, many photographers were on hand and a photo of Hank in the Yankee jersey made its way to the attention of Walter Briggs. I think it’s safe to say Briggs over-reacted; and because of it, Hank Greenberg’s illustrious career in Detroit came to a sad, ignominious end.

The Pirates, on the other hand, didn’t do too bad in the transaction. After they

convinced the disgruntled Greenberg not to retire, they conveniently moved in the left-field fence in Forbes Field and got 25 homers out of the aging star. In addition, he acted as a mentor for an up-and-coming young slugger (and future Hall-of-Famer) named Ralph Kiner. Not a bad return on their $35,000 investment!

And Hank didn’t do too bad either. Wanting him to be happy in Pittsburgh, the Pirates upped his salary to the almost-unheard-of sum of $100,000.  Appears everyone came out well…that is, except Walter Briggs and the Detroit Tigers…

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts and quote from Cut4, by MLB.com