Hank Greenberg batting for the Detroit Tigers in 1935. (TSN Archives/Getty Images, via JTA)
JTA – A bat used by Jewish baseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg sold at auction for over $25,000.
The closed auction on the website of Lelands – Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions did not say who is taking home the Detroit Tigers star’s wood bat, which was signed by 34 teammates from the 1937 club, for $25,063.20. Bidding started at $5,000.
The lot description says “there is a deep ball mark near the crack at the top of the handle” and rates the bat’s use as “moderate.”
Greenberg signed right above his name on the barrel of the bat.
A Hank Greenberg baseball bat from 1937, signed by members of the Detroit Tigers, was up for auction in February 2019. (Lelands-Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions/via JTA)
Greenberg, a first baseman and outfielder for the Tigers for 12 seasons in the 1930s and ’40s, hit 331 home runs in his career. Known as “Hammerin’ Hank” and the “Hebrew Hammer,” he had 1,276 runs batted in and a .313 lifetime batting average.
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Though he was not religiously observant, Greenberg sat out a game in 1934 during Yom Kippur at the height of the American League pennant race. He finished his baseball career in the 1947 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
His playing days were interrupted by more than four years serving in the Army Air Corps, including during World War II.
Greenberg died in 1986 at age 75.
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