2013 information guide - MLB.com

A fearsome run producer and home run hitter, “Hammerin’ Hank” Greenberg made the most of a career interrupted by four
years of military service during World War II and another season lost to injury to capture two American League Most
Valuable Player awards and a pair of World Series titles.
• Rapped a Tigers record 63 doubles, just four short of the major league mark, in 1934 in his second full season in the
majors as the Tigers won their first pennant in 25 years.
• Unanimous selection as American League Most Valuable Player in 1935 after leading the league with 36 homers and
170 RBI as the Tigers won their first World Series title, defeating the Chicago Cubs.
• Suffered a broken wrist just 12 games into the 1936 season after beginning the campaign batting .348 with 16 RBI.
• Drove in a career-high 183 runs the next year, one short of Lou Gehrig’s 1931 league record.
• In 1938, chased Babe Ruth’s 11-year-old single-season home run record (60) before ending the year with a leaguebest
58 longballs.
• Won American League Most Valuable Player honors again in 1940, his last full season before entering the Army, as he
batted a career-best .340 and led the league with 50 doubles, 41 home runs and 150 RBI...carried Detroit to its sixth
American League pennant.
• Returned from a four-year stint in the Army in July of 1945 and drilled a grand slam on the final day of the season to
spur the Tigers back to the World Series...batted .304 with two home runs and seven RBI to lead Detroit past Chicago
for its second World Series title.
• Drove in more than 100 runs a total of seven times in his career and hit better than .300 in each of his first seven full
seasons, including high marks of .340 in 1940 and .337 in 1937.
• Posted a lifetime slugging percentage of .605, good for seventh-highest in major league history.
• Completed his brilliant career with one final season in Pittsburgh after being sold by the Tigers to the Pirates on
January 18, 1947.
• Had his uniform No. 5 retired by the Tigers on June 12, 1983, the same day that Charlie Gehringer’s No. 2 was retired.
Rated second only to Rogers Hornsby among righthanded hitters of his era, Harry Heilmann batted .390-or-better four
times in his career, including .403 in 1923, to capture a quartet of batting titles.
• Bettered the .400 mark (.403) in 1923 to lead the league, collecting 211 hits and driving in 115 runs...in all, batted
.340-or-better eight times.
• Led the American League with 237 hits in 1921 and hit .394 to win his first batting title...also won the league batting
crown in 1923, 1925 and 1927.
• From 1921-29, drove in at least 100 runs in eight out of nine seasons...drilled at least 40 doubles in eight of his last 10
seasons as a player.
• In 1927, finished runner-up to the Yankees Lou Gehrig in American League Most Valuable Player balloting after hitting
.398 and winning his final batting title.
• His 1921 total of 139 RBI would have led the league, but Babe Ruth drove in 171 runs that season...three times he
ranked second in the American League in slugging percentage behind Ruth.
• Was sold to the Cincinnati Reds on October 14, 1929, where he played in 1930 and ’32...batted .333 in 1930 with 19
home runs, two off his career best, and 91 RBI.
• After his playing career, broadcasted Tigers games on the radio from 1934-51.
• Elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously by the Veterans Committee in 1952.
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TIGERS IN NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
HANK GREENBERG 1B, 1930-46
Elected to Hall of Fame: 1956 Nickname: “Hammerin’ Hank”
Ht./Wt.: 6-3/210 Batted/Threw: R/R
Born: 1/1/11 in New York, NY
Full Name: Henry Benjamin Greenberg
Died: 9/4/86 in Beverly Hills, CA
HARRY HEILMANN RF, 1914-29
Elected to Hall of Fame: 1952 Nickname: “Slug”
Ht./Wt.: 6-1/195 Batted/Threw: R/R
Born: 8/3/1894 in San Francisco, CA
Full Name: Harry Edwin Heilmann
Died: 7/9/51 in Southfield, MI
KALINE WINS BATTING TITLE AT AGE 20
In 1955, Hall-of-Famer Al Kaline had one of the best seasons of his career at the age of 20. That season, he became the
youngest player ever to win the American League batting crown - besting the immortal Ty Cobb by one day - and took the title in
the American League by 21 points with a career-best .340 batting average. In fact, his batting average led the entire major
leagues, ending up two points better than Richie Ashburn of the Phillies, who won the National League crown. Kaline registered
a career-high 200 hits, hit 27 home runs and drove in 102 runs that year. He wound up second in the American League Most
Valuable Player balloting, finishing 17 points behind Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.
2013 DETROIT TIGERS INFORMATION GUIDE