The Return of Hank Greenberg

The heroes of baseball were on their way home.

Four future Hall of Famers: Luke Appling, Bob Feller, Red Ruffing and Greenberg – returned from the military that year. Each picked up right where they left off before the war. But it was Greenberg, who powered the Tigers to the AL pennant that summer, who became the living symbol of life after war.

“He will be watched as a symbol of hope to all the other ballplayers in the service,” said Whitney Martin of the Associated Press, “who fear their absence from the game might impair their effectiveness and money-earning capacity.”

Greenberg quickly put their fears to rest. The 34-year-old left fielder had played in only one exhibition game while serving as an Army Air Corps captain, and had practiced with such zeal for his return that he blistered the skin on his left hand in batting practice.

“Greenberg will hit, and you can count on that,” said future Hall of Famer Ted Williams in June of 1945, while Williams was serving in the Marines. “At the end of the season, he’ll be the most dangerous hitter on the Detroit team.”

Throughout his four years stationed at bases in the U.S. and flying B-29 missions over the Himalayas in the China-Burma-India Theater, Greenberg had dreamed about his return to the majors. But he exceeded all expectations by hitting .311 in the season’s final 78 games, clubbing 13 homers and driving in 60 runs – and even finishing 14th in the AL MVP voting.

For a man who once hit 58 homers in one season and drove in 183 in another – and won his two MVP awards in two different seasons than those – the numbers weren’t gaudy. But Greenberg showed his peers that their baseball skills were not irrevocably damaged during their service to their country.

Maybe more importantly, Greenberg demonstrated that he was still a winner. He had led the Tigers to three AL pennants and one World Series win before entering the service, and upon his return he was thrust into the middle of one of the tightest pennant races in AL history.

“I thought I was in good shape when I came out of the (Army Air Corps),” Greenberg told the Associated Press. “The toughest thing in being away so long is having to learn the peculiarities of opposing pitchers all over again. But that doesn’t take long. You pick up a lot in one swing around the league.”

The Tigers’ sweep of Philadelphia on July 1 increased their first-place lead over the Yankees to three-and-a-half games. Four days later, Greenberg pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth with two out, with runners on second and third and his team trailing the Red Sox 8-7. Greenberg singled to center, driving in two runs and putting the Tigers four-and-a-half games up on the Yankees.

When the season’s final day dawned, Detroit – which had lost the 1944 pennant to the Browns on the last day of the season – was one-half game up on the Browns with a doubleheader scheduled that day in St. Louis. The Browns took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth when Detroit loaded the bases with one out.

Greenberg then ended the drama – and made the second game unnecessary – by crushing a ball into the left-field bleachers, a blow which eventually gave the Tigers a 6-3 win and the pennant.

At season’s end, Appling had batted .363 in 18 games with the White Sox, and Feller was 5-3 with a 2.50 earned-run average in nine games for Cleveland. Ruffing, at 41, was 7-3 with the Yankees with a 2.90 ERA.

Baseball had survived the crisis.

“Being entirely away from the game during the four years in the (Army Air Corps) put me at a disadvantage,” Greenberg said. “But it all came back.”