Did Hank Greenberg Fail to Pass Babe Ruth’s HR Record Because He Was Jewish?

I’ll admit, when I first started reading this article in the New York Times, titled: Religion Aided a Home Run Chase, and May Have Led to Its Failure, I assumed it would be a commentary – with Passover just around the corner – looking at the number of games Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg missed in 1938 because of religious obligations. Greenberg finished that season with 58 home runs, two shy of Babe Ruth’s record. Remember, part of the lore of Sandy Koufax is not only that he was a great pitcher, but that he declined to pitch in the first game of the World Series because of Yom Kippur. Greenberg, as well, famously had religious observances interfere with baseball. From a 2001 ESPN story:↵↵⇥In 1934, Hank Greenberg, the Jewish Babe Ruth, anguished over whether or not to play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and the first of the High Holy Days, on September 10, 1934. That day, the Detroit Tigers faced the New York Yankees in a key game.↵⇥↵⇥The Detroit media, aware of Greenberg’s indecision, sought out the opinions of local rabbis, with the Detroit News running a headline saying “Talmud Clears Greenberg for Holiday Play.”↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥“The team was fighting for first place,” wrote Greenberg in his autobiography, “and I was probably the only batter in the lineup who was not in a slump. But in the Jewish religion, it is traditional that one observe the holiday solemnly, with prayer…. I wasn’t sure what to do.”↵⇥

↵↵Of course, Greenberg did play, and did hit two home runs in a 2-1 victory. The following week, Greenberg decided not to play on Yom Kippur. But this NYT article was not about that at all. Howard Megdal wrote that, using data collected from Retrosheet.org, statistics indicate that pitchers were avoiding Greenberg at a higher clip late in the 1938 season than any other point in his career, and with a greater disparity than any other slugger in history. Why? Megdal thinks it may have been because Greenberg was Jewish.↵

↵↵⇥Some members of Greenberg’s family and legions of his fans believed that anti-Semitic pitchers had walked Greenberg often to keep him from a fair shot at Ruth, who set the record in 1927. Greenberg, however, called such a view “pure baloney.” To shift responsibility for his falling short of the record onto others would have been out of character.↵↵Megdal uses the statistical analysis of walks to determine that Greenberg was given a free pass far more in the month of September than he was the rest of the year, or the rest of his career, which included an MVP season and a year in which he knocked in 183 runs.↵↵⇥Over all, Greenberg walked in 15.9 percent of his plate appearances through the end of August 1938. In September, that rate jumped to 20.4 percent. His walk rate was 14.5 percent in 1937 and 15 percent in 1939.↵⇥↵⇥Something changed down the stretch in 1938, and it was not in Greenberg’s approach.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥He said he felt “if I, as a Jew, hit a home run, I was hitting one against Hitler.” So he had compelling reasons not to take a walk.↵⇥

↵↵It’s a stretch to think that pitchers were “hurling for Hitler” as it were, but Megdal’s research does show an interesting trend. The only other hitter in history whose walk totals increased so dramatically when going for the home run record was Barry Bonds in 2001 when he hit 73 homers. But Megdal points out that Bonds’ walk percentage actually remained at that increased rate – more than 33 percent – in subsequent seasons. The increase in Greenberg’s walk percentage was just during that brief window where he was nearing in on Ruth’s record.↵↵Was it because he was Jewish? It could explain why Roger Maris or Jimmie Foxx – who hit 58 homers in 1932 – didn’t see an increase in walks late in their best seasons. That said, if this is what Greenberg has in common with only Bonds, maybe it wasn’t because he was Jewish. Maybe he was just a jerk.↵

↵↵I’m not sure if there are any statistics to back up that claim, though.↵

↵↵[H/T Real Clear Sports]↵

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