Hank Greenberg Net Worth

May 2024 · 7 minute read

Hank Greenberg net worth is
$50 Million

Hank Greenberg Wiki Biography

Henry Benjamin Greenberg was born on 1 January 1911, in New York City, USA of Jewish descent. Hank was a professional baseball player, best known as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and all of his efforts helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing in 1986.

How rich was Hank Greenberg? As of late-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $50 million, mostly earned through a successful career in professional baseball. He is considered one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history, but was also known for his military service during his baseball career. All of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.

Hank Greenberg Net Worth $50 million

Greenberg attended James Monroe High School and became popular due to being an all-around athlete. He led the school’s basketball team to a city championship, but he preferred playing baseball, and in 1929 he was recruited by the New York Yankees, but declined and opted to attend New York University. He stayed there for a year and then signed with the Detroit Tigers for $9,000, significantly increasing his net worth.

Hank stayed in the minor leagues for three years, playing for Hartford and Raleigh. In 1931, he played at Evansville and then moved to Beaumont the next year. He won the MVP award during that year and helped Beaumont win the Texas League title.

Hank was the youngest MLB player on the roster, and eventually made his MLB debut in 1933 and would make a significant impact with 78 strikeouts making him third in the league. The following season, he led the Tigers to their first World Series in 25 years. While he played, he had to miss a few games for religious events such as the Yom Kippur; most of the games which he missed the Tigers would lose. In 1935, Greenberg led the league in several categories and was unanimously voted as the American League’s Most Valuable Player. He also appeared during the All-Star break, but was not selected to the roster. During this year, he would lead Detroit to their first World Series title.

In 1937, Greenberg returned from an injury that cut his season short the previous year. He didn’t play for the All-Star game despite being voted in, but he continued to lead the AL in several categories and would come in third in MVP voting. The following year, he nearly broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, though he did achieve the single-season home run record by a right-handed batter, and would hold that record for 66 years. In 1939, he was then voted to the AL All-Star roster for the third year in a row, and then in the next year he switched to the left field position. Despite the switch, he was still voted in to be part of that year’s AL All-Star team, and also won his second American League MVP Award, becoming the first player to do so in two positions.

In 1940, Greenberg registered for the peacetime draft and was recommended for military service. After playing 19 games the following season, he was inducted into the US Army, and his salary was cut which significantly affected his net worth; however, he he wanted to serve the country first. He was eventually honourably discharged two days before the bombing on Pearl Harbor, but he then re-enlisted in 1942, and became part of the Army Air Force.

He returned to baseball in 1945 and continued to play well until the end of his professional run in 1947. He missed three full seasons during his service in the military, yet still accumulated high statistics. After retiring, he went on to have a managerial positions with the Cleveland Indians.

For his personal life, it is known that Greenberg married Caral Gimbel in 1946 and they had three children before they divorced in 1958. He would then marry actress Mary Jo Tarola in 1966, and their marriage would last until his death in 1986.


Net Worth$50 Million
Date Of BirthJanuary 1, 1911
Died1986-09-04
Place Of BirthGreenwich Village, New York City, New York, United States
Height1.93 m
ProfessionBaseball player
EducationNew York Law School, University of Miami
NationalityAmerican
SpouseCorinne Zuckerman
ChildrenAlva Greenberg, Glenn Greenberg, Stephen Greenberg
ParentsSarah Greenberg, David Greenberg
SiblingsBen Greenberg, Lilian Greenberg, Joseph Greenberg
IMDBhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338516/
AwardsAmerican League Most Valuable Player Award
#Quote
1Home run hitters drive Cadillacs; singles hitters drive Fords. ("Tribe Memories: The First Century" by Russell Schneider, Moonlight Publishing, 2000)
2When I was playing, I used to resent being singled out as a Jewish ballplayer. I wanted to be known as a great ballplayer, period. I'm not sure why or when I changed, because I'm still not a particularly religious person. Lately, though, I find myself wanting to be remembered not only as a great ballplayer, but even more as a great Jewish ballplayer.
3"It's just as well. There was no way I could have eaten all that gefilte fish." Greenberg on falling three short of breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run record in 1938. If he broke the record, his mother promised him 61 baseball-shaped pieces of gefilte fish.
#Fact
1For a time in 1943, Greenberg shared an apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas with William Holden while both of them were serving stateside in WWII.
2Inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.
3Late 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).
4Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 353-355. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
5Father-in-law of Linda Vester.
6Inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
7Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.
8Pictured 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.
9Grandfather of Duncan Greenberg
10Father (with Caral Gimbel) of Glenn Greenberg, Alva Greenberg, and Stephen Greenberg.
11Brother-in-law of Marilyn Greenberg.
12Brother of Joseph Greenberg and Lillian Greenberg-Golson.
13Made major league debut on 14 September 1930 (only game played that season).
14Biography in: "American National Biography". Volume 9, pages 515-516. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
15Detroit Tigers All-Time Slugging Percentage Leader (.616).
16Played in four World Series and two All-Star games.
17Though primarily a first baseman, Greenberg played left field in 1940, 1941 and 1945.
18American League MVP (1935, 1940).
19His ninth inning grand slam won the pennant for the Tigers in 1945.
20While playing in Forbes Field for the Pirates, the area where he hit the majority of his homers was known as "Greenberg Gardens."
21Lost four seasons due to WW II.
22While in Pittsburgh in 1947, he co-recorded the song "Goodbye Mr. Ball" with the minority owner of the Pirates. His name was Bing Crosby.
23Attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx, later the alma mater of the original Mr. Met, Ed Kranepool.
24Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1956. Played for the American League's Detroit Tigers (1930-1941, 1945-1946), and the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1947).

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Kid from Cleveland1949Hank Greenberg - Cleveland Indians Player

Soundtrack

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg1998Documentary performer: "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye"

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg1998Documentary in loving memory of - as Hammerin' 'Hank' Greenberg

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
1984 MLB All-Star Game1984TV SpecialHimself - AL Honorary Captain
The Ed Sullivan Show1962TV SeriesHimself
World Wide '601960TV SeriesHimself - Interview subject

Archive Footage

Known for movies


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