Baseball icon Hank Greenberg’s bat fetches over $25,000 at auction

An anonymous buyer scored a signed bat for $25,063.20 that belonged to “The Hebrew Hammer” Hank Greenberg.

By World Israel News Staff

A baseball bat used by Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg recently sold for over $25,000 via a closed auction run by Lelands Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions.

The bat is from the 1937 season. The auction’s item description said it bears “a deep ball mark near the crack at the top of the handle.”

In addition to being a game-used item, the bat was also signed by 34 of Greenberg’s teammates from the Detroit Tigers.

Greenberg, who remains one of Major League Baseball’s top Jewish players of all time, earned the nickname “The Hebrew Hammer” for driving in 1,276 runs over the course of his career and racking up a .313 lifetime batting average. The New York native played 12 seasons for the Tigers, completing his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Recognized as one of the first major Jewish sports superstars in the U.S., Greenberg opted to sit out a critical game in the 1934 season to observe the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.

Greenberg also publicly welcomed Jackie Robinson to the league when he broke the color barrier in 1947, a rarity for opposing players. The two players became friends and Robinson credits Greenberg for helping him navigate a challenging rookie year.

In World War II, Greenberg served in the Army Air Corps, passing away in 1986 at the age of 75.