The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg

The movie is good enough that it seems too short. A shame that there isn't more baseball footage from that time period.


Hank Greenberg the Jewish Babe Ruth/Moses/Jackie Robinson   January 11, 2003
 21 out of 22 found this review helpful

If the point of "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" is lost on the viewer, then history itself put the writing on the wall when the owner of the Detroit Tigers misunderstood the meaning of an old photograph of Greenberg and traded his star to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 1947 season. Greenberg's last season in the baseball was Jackie Robinson's first, and Greenberg was in the National League to witness it first hand. Not surprisingly, Greenberg was one of the few opposing ball players to offer Robinson encouragement in breaking baseball's color line. But then, as this 1999 documentary proved repeatedly, no white player in the history of the game had been subjected to the abuse Greenberg suffered because his was Jewish. Without a doubt Robinson suffered more, maybe even more that first season than Greenberg his entire career. But this documentary also shows that Greenberg was as important to the American Jewish community as Jackie was to African Americans.

I remembered that Greenberg was the first person to win the MVP award at two different positions and that in 1935 he had 100 R.B.I.'s at the break and was not selected for the All-Star team (Manager Mickey Cochrane did not want to be accused of playing favorites with someone from his own team and picked Lou Gehrig and Jimmy Foxx instead). But what I really picked up from this documentary was how good Greenberg made the Detroit Tigers during his career. If you look at his career batting statistics you will see that Greenberg played eight full seasons and batted in over 100 runs seven times for the Tigers between 1933 and 1946 (several seasons were lost to injury and military service). The Tigers played in the World Series in 1934, 1935, 1940, and 1945, and Greenberg was the common denominator for those teams. You will be hard pressed to find a major league baseball player with that sort of success ratio since Greenberg's day outside of New York Yankees like Berra, Ford, Mantle, and Jeter.

Writer-director Aviva Kempner balances Greenberg's playing career with the impact he had as baseball's first Jewish star. There are some clips from an old interview with Greenberg, who died in 1986. But most of the talking heads are from contemporary clips of Greenberg's family, former teammates, reporters, and lifelong fans. The last category are the most interesting, because it includes not only famous people like Walter Matthau and Alan Dershowitz, but ordinary fans, including several rabbis and a self-admitted "groupie." These are the people with whom "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" resonates the most. Clearly this is a documentary which will be of interest to baseball fans but also to those interested in the story of a true American hero.

Final Note: The documentary does not point out that in 1938 when Greenberg hit 58 home runs, two short of Babe Ruth's record, he hit two balls into a screen that were ground rule doubles; however, that screen was not there when Ruth played in 1927


A Thorough and Rounded Biographical Film   August 3, 2002
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

My father often talks of how Hank Greenberg is not given the credit he deserves as a ballplayer, as a great power hitter and as an amazing story of persistence in coming back as a tremendous player after serving in World War II. I bought him this video as a Father's Day gift, and I think I enjoyed it as much as he did. This documentary/biography is not at all dry. Many people, famous and not, are shown speaking of their admiration for Hank Greenberg as a player and as a man. The video emphasizes heavily his role as the first openly Jewish player in major league baseball, the bigotry he faced, and the grace with which he responded to it. A home run with two men on base was Greenberg's reply to an ethnic slur; what could be better? I enjoy the statistics of baseball and Greenberg's performance numbers were not mentioned as much as I would have liked, but that is a minor point. After seeing this video, I feel I know the first Hammerin' Hank as well as any of today's players, and admire him more than the vast majority playing today, not just for his hitting prowess but for his character.


A Great Video About a Real Star of Baseball   March 17, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

A well produced documentary about one of baseball's greats. He overcame bigotry and paved the way for the great Black ball players who succeeded him. Perhaps it was size or perhaps his demeanor which he used to overcome rampant anti-semitism of the time, but he wanted one thing...to be a great baseball player and make in the majors, or the "show" as it was called then.

As the film portrays, he was a great individual, and certainly a patriot, given that he gave up his career early to enlist in the WW2 war effort.

The great mystery left unsettled was did anti semitism play a part in coming so close to Babe Ruth's 60 home run record (59 home runs) that the opposing teams wouldn't pitch to him when he was within striking distance with a few games yet to play.

A great documentary.


Intelligent and moving   February 5, 2002
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I grew up in a Jewish household in the 1960s, well after Greenberg's playing days but he still was an icon for me. The film touches on a lot of points: biography, sports in America, institutionalized anti-Semitism and racism. Yet the viewer is never overwhelmed; this film really evokes a man, an era and a unique look at a unique American legend. My only quibble: I wish it had been longer and delved into Greenberg's efforts at desegregating professional baseball after his playing days.