Today on the blog we celebrate Detroit Tigers' legend Hank Greenberg with a "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" card:
The
Tigers' All-Time great put in parts of two seasons with the Beaumont
Exporters in 1931 and 1932, and gave the fans what to expect when he
reached the big time.
In 157 games, he hit 39 homers while collecting 174 hits and hitting .290.
It seems there are no records yet for runs scored or runs batted in, but you can easily assume the numbers are impressive!
Once
the New York City-born slugger reached the Big Leagues, he mashed his
way to the Hall of Fame, hitting 331 home runs in 13 seasons, with
almost five prime years lost to World War II.
Greenberg was a
two-time MVP, winning the award in 1935 when he led the league with 35
homers and 168 RBIs, and 1940 when he repeated the feat with 41 homers
and 150 RBIs.
Incredibly, those weren't nearly his best years,
as he would drive in as many as 184 runs in 1937, and hit as many as 58
homers in 1938, with three 200-hit campaigns, a 63-double season in
1934, and what the heck even a 16 triple year in 1935.
The man was an absolute beast at the plate!
Can
you imagine what his career numbers could have been had he played the
five extra seasons between his 30-34 years lost to military service?!
Just
an amazing player who like others lost prime years to the War, but
nevertheless found their rightful place in the annals of baseball's long
history.
