The previous night, Cochrane had appeared on a radio broadcast sponsored by the Detroit Ford dealers. Asked what was holding the Tigers atop the league standings, his answer was definitive: Speed. “We have been using old fashioned baseball methods this year, and that’s one of the main reasons why we’ve been leading … for many weeks. Yes, we’ve been sacrificing and squeezing, hitting and running.” He was not ready to celebrate yet, however. “There are only 25 playing days left. A lot can happen in that time. We’ve got a comfortable lead now, but if we let up we’re likely to find ourselves behind the eight ball at the finish.”28
The Athletics won three of the five games, which was significant: It marked the first time the Tigers had lost a series since the Browns had taken two of three at the end of June. Bridges pitched a spectacular four-hitter in the finale on September 8, picking up win number 18, in a contest that took only one hour and 31 minutes. Connie Mack, for his part, was convinced of Detroit’s superiority. Speaking at a Knights of Columbus rally in Detroit, the venerable Athletics owner went on record as saying that the Tigers would be the American League champions of 1934.
Chapter Nine
“Phenomena, bordering on the miraculous”
Hank Greenberg was only 23 years old. For Detroit’s six-foot-three, 210-pound first baseman, however, 1934 was proving to be a breakout season. His parents, both Romanian-born Jews, meant to name him Hyman. The story goes that the fellow who filled out his birth certificate had never heard of such a name, and simply wrote in “Henry.” When Greenberg’s family moved from New York’s Greenwich Village to the Bronx, he suddenly found himself living across the street from Crotona Park, a 127-acre, municipally owned oasis where young Henry spent countless hours playing baseball with the other neighborhood kids.
Greenberg’s best sport at James Monroe High School was basketball, but he was good enough at baseball that the New York Yankees were hot on his trail. Owner Jacob Ruppert was always on the lookout for a great Jewish player, fully aware of the boost in attendance it would provide, given the city’s large Jewish population. Scout Paul Krichell invited a teenaged Greenberg to a box seat at Yankee Stadium, where the youngster got an up-close view of Lou Gehrig (whom Krichell had signed years ago) in the on-deck circle. Greenberg was a Giants fan, but Krichell, ever the salesman, leaned closer to him and whispered, “He’s all washed up. In a few years, you’ll be the Yankee first baseman.”1
Things did not work out that way, however, but it may have been for the better. With Gehrig entrenched at first base, Greenberg would have had little chance of playing in the Bronx. He signed with Detroit instead and quickly established himself as a rising star within the organization. A solid first season with the Raleigh Capitals and Hartford Senators earned him a promotion to Detroit for the final three weeks of 1930. He quickly found out that he was not welcomed by all. He was subjected to Jew-baiting from the opposition, and even certain of his teammates did not take kindly to having a Jew on the club. Year later, Greenberg recounted how Phil Page, an infinitely expendable young Tigers pitcher, called him a “goddamn Jew” after Greenberg hit him on the knee with a line drive in batting practice. In the face of the taunts, Greenberg found support from other teammates, particularly Schoolboy Rowe. Billy Rogell, himself a well-known hard-ass who refused to take crap from anybody, also encouraged the youngster. “Go out and outplay the bastards,” he once told him.2
Only 23 years old in 1934, Hank Greenberg was just emerging as one of baseball’s all-time great sluggers (courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York).
After two more years of minor league seasoning, including 39 homers at Beaumont in 1932, Greenberg made the Tigers’ squad out of spring training in 1933. He had a fine rookie campaign, batting .301 and driving in 85 runs. With only 12 home runs, he was still a raw-boned kid and had yet to discover the power stroke that would make him famous. Greenberg entered the 1934 season determined to improve both his power hitting and his fielding; he did both. He emerged as the Tigers’ biggest home-run threat, and by the end of August had already topped the century mark in RBI. The countless hours of infield practice had begun to pay dividends. “Have you been watching big Greenberg around first?” asked Cochrane. “He’s the most improved first baseman in the league.”3
Now, with the season entering the final stretch, Greenberg faced a dilemma: Would it be proper for him, as a Jew, to suit up and play on September 10, which was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year? Additionally, what about September 19, which was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement? According to tradition, Jews were to spend the day in solemn prayer with God, refraining from work, and certainly not cavorting on a baseball diamond. The answer had been relatively easy in 1933; with Detroit buried in fifth place and not much to play for, Greenberg had no qualms about sitting out those two days. This year, with the Yankees breathing down Detroit’s neck, it would be more problematic for Greenberg to announce that he was going to take two games off because of his Jewish faith.
In the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, the debate became a national story. Should he play, or should he pray? Greenberg was hearing it from all corners, some saying he should abide by the tenets of his faith and stay at home, while others argued that the Tigers were in the middle of a pennant race; taking a seat on the bench would hurt the team when it needed him most.
One prominent Detroit rabbi was asked his views. “Mr. Greenberg,” he wrote, “who is a conscientious Jew, must decide for himself. From the standpoint of Orthodox Judaism, the fact that ballplaying is his means of living would argue against [playing]. On the other hand, it might be argued quite consistently that his taking part in the game would mean something not only to himself but to his fellow players and, in fact at this time, to the community of Detroit.”4 Greenberg knew that no matter what decision he made, there would be criticism. “I was in a terrible fix.”5
At Navin Field on September 9, the day before Rosh Hashanah, Greenberg came to bat in the tenth inning of a tie game with the Red Sox. Gehringer was on second, Rogell on first, with one out. Over 28,000 fans erupted as Greenberg laced a single over second, scoring Gehringer. The Tigers had themselves a 5–4 win, with Rowe going the distance for his 22nd victory. Detroit’s offense was clicking: The entire lineup, including Rowe, entered the game with plus-.300 batting averages. New York swept a doubleheader over the Browns, so despite the Tigers’ victory, their lead was down to four games. Greenberg, Detroit’s big gun, was now batting .376 in his last 25 games, with 19 RBI and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.066.
The Tigers were leaving to Greenberg the decision whether to play on Rosh Hashanah. “Mickey Cochrane told me it was a personal matter that I must handle myself.”6 After a mostly sleepless night in his room at the Detroit Leland Hotel, Greenberg headed down to Shaarey Zedek Synagogue early on the morning of September 10. Immediately afterward, still undecided, he made his way to Navin Field. As game time approached, the Tigers began changing into their uniforms, but Greenberg sat by himself in front of his locker in his street clothes, trying to arrive at a resolution. Finally, just minutes before three o’clock, he announced to Cochrane that he could write his name into the lineup. Hank Greenberg was going to play.
The game turned out to be the signature event of his season. Boston right-hander Dusty Rhodes held Detroit scoreless until Greenberg’s seventh-inning solo home run tied the game. The Tigers’ slugger wasn’t finished. Leading off the ninth, he swung viciously at Rhodes’ second pitch and drove the ball on a line over the center-field wall for a 2–1 win. The Boston Globe called it “one of the hardest hit balls in the history of Navin Field.”7 It had been an exhausting week for Greenberg, but the victory was worth it. “As Hank crossed the plate to complete his trip around the bases,” said the Detroit Free Press, “the crowd swarmed around him and thumped him on the back. Hank accepted the congratulations quietly and then walked from the field with his head down. In the 24 hours preceding the game he had waged a terrific batt
le with himself and he was tired. He wanted to be alone.”8 Elden Auker, who allowed only three hits, got his 13th win, and the Tigers gained a half-game on idle New York.
Peeling off his uniform in the locker room after the game, Greenberg’s emotions showed in his words. “I did a lot of praying before the game and I am going to do a lot of it after, but certainly the Good Lord did not let me down today. I was afraid I would be knocked down a couple of times by pitched balls, but once I was in there, I had only one thing to do—keep swinging.”9
Wrote the Detroit Jewish Chronicle, “It was a great day for the Tigers. It was a great day for Henry Greenberg. It was a great day for Detroiters, who got a thrill out of this one-man game by a Jewish boy.”10
A regular feature of the Detroit Free Press sports section was a columnist writing under the byline of “Iffy the Dopester.” A civic rooter and unabashed Tigers fan (but also a critical one), Iffy took delight in Greenberg’s big game. “I don’t know whether Hank Greenberg did anything wrong—I doubt it—in the eyes of the priests of the synagog, but I’m here to testify to the world as a baseball expert that the two hits he made in that ball game were strictly kosher.”11
Earlier in the month, Frank Navin went before Detroit Mayor Frank Couzens and the City Council to lay forth a plan for the rapid expansion of the Tigers’ ballpark. Confident that his team would reach the World Series, Navin knew that additional seating would be necessary in order to accommodate the thousands of ticket requests that had already begun pouring in. With a seating capacity of roughly 30,000, Navin Field was simply too small. The Tigers’ owner received permission to close a section of Cherry Street, just beyond the left-field wall, between National and Trumbull Avenues, for the duration of the World Series.
Navin hired local contractor Jerry Utley, a former pitcher for the University of Michigan. Utley’s job was to build a massive, temporary wooden bleacher section extending from the left-field corner to the flagpole in deepest center field. The first row of the new stands would begin 20 feet inside the left-field wall, a portion of which would have to be demolished. Slanting steeply upward for 70 rows, and capable of holding 17,000 patrons (at one dollar a head), the bleachers would lie right on top of Cherry Street. At a cost of $25,000, it was a considerable investment for Navin and Briggs. Both, however, were expecting a big return.
Finally, in a meeting in Chicago on September 13, Commissioner Landis gave Navin the thumbs up to begin the process of printing World Series tickets. He also made an official announcement: Should the Tigers win the pennant, the first Series game would take place at Navin Field on October 3.
The same day that Landis uttered his decree, Schoolboy Rowe shut out the Senators in Detroit. Auker pitched nearly as well in a victory two days later; in the series finale, Tommy Bridges did not allow Washington an earned run in notching his 19th win. A furious three-way race for the American League batting title developed between Lou Gehrig, Charlie Gehringer, and the Senators’ Heinie Manush. After going only 3-for-16 in Detroit, Manush was batting .354, while Gehringer was at .356, barely behind Gehrig’s .358.
With the Tigers 5½ games in front, the Yankees arrived at Navin Field for a four-game set beginning on September 17. New York would need to win at least three to keep its hopes alive. Should the Bronx Bombers sweep, things would suddenly get very interesting. Before the opener, Ruth all but conceded a pennant for Detroit. “I guess the Tigers are in. Nothing but a miracle can stop them now.”12 The Babe, limping badly with what he called a charley horse, would not play in the series, and, in fact, feared he was finished for 1934.
The first game had a World Series atmosphere, as over 36,000 fans squeezed into Navin Field and cheered the Tigers on all afternoon. Acknowledging the contest’s importance, the American League dispatched four umpires to the scene, something rarely done in the regular season. A band blared out music between innings, and mounted police kept back the fans ringing the outfield in makeshift stands. The boisterous crowd watched General Crowder, the August waiver-wire pickup, work his magic. He went the distance, striking out five and giving up only six hits, as Detroit beat Lefty Gomez, 3–0. Gehrig and Gehringer both went 2-for-3. When left fielder Goose Goslin caught the final out, a fly ball off the bat of Myril Hoag, he threw it “high into the air to permit a scramble by fans who rushed from the bleachers and the standing sections along the outfield, [and] the crowd let out that long-restrained yelp of victory.”13
Crowder took particular pleasure in the outcome. After racking up 50 wins the previous two seasons, he got off to a terrible start in 1934. The Senators gave him up for dead, as did nearly every other major league team. Now, however, he was proving to the baseball world that he still had something left in the tank. For the Yankees, this was not how they wanted to open the series. The Tigers’ lead stood at 6½ games. Even if New York were to win all of their remaining 11 contests, Detroit could split their final 12 and still win the pennant.
Yankees skipper Joe McCarthy knew it was not over yet. “Certainly we have a chance. A club always has a chance until the standings show that it is mathematically out of it. It was just another ball game. No, you can tell them the Yanks are not down yet.”14
The Detroit Times’ Bud Shaver agreed. “Theirs is a forlorn hope, it is true, but not once have the Yankees shown any signs of cracking, although baseball wise-acres have foretold their temperamental collapse a half dozen times this season. The Yankees despite injuries have hung on in a battle with a young, dashing and pennant-mad ball club, and now in the final furlong even the schedule is against them.”15
Iffy the Dopester, on the other hand, sensed defeat in McCarthy’s men. “The Yankees were the ones to proclaim the Tigers champs Monday afternoon at Navin Field. They looked up into the faces of the 35,000 fans who jammed the park and they said as plainly as any Roman gladiator who ever thumbed his nose at an emperor: ‘We who are about to die, salute you.’”16
New York’s bats once again were held in check the following afternoon, this time by Schoolboy Rowe. The Tigers’ ace hurled a complete-game, six-hit shutout for his 24th win. In his sterling 1934 season, Rowe had been unbeatable against New York, with five wins, a 1.76 earned run average, and a 0.935 WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched). Red Ruffing pitched well for the Yankees, but Navin Field erupted in cheers when Greenberg hit his 25th home run in the fourth inning. That was all Detroit needed in the 2–0 victory. Gehrig went 1-for-4, as did Gehringer. “Boy,” gushed Billy Rogell, “that World Series dough is sure enough looming up now. You know, I’ve been kind of afraid to say that out loud until now. I’ve thought about it plenty. But my share is going right into the old sock for the education of my boys.”17 Iffy the Dopester of the Detroit Free Press was on edge all game long. “Of course, I’ll admit there were moments when I felt like Frank Navin looks, but Schoolboy Rowe had his Edna ball and he relieved my anxiety often enough so that I didn’t freeze solid.”18
September 19 was Yom Kippur, and Greenberg, at the insistence of his father, did not play. The Tigers missed his offense as they fell, 5–2. It was the only game Greenberg would miss all season. His fill-in, Frank Doljack, singled in three at-bats, but Johnny Murphy stymied the Detroit bats that day. Gehringer and Gehrig both went hitless. Meanwhile, in Cleveland, Heinie Manush went 3-for-5 to overtake Gehringer in the batting race, .356 to .355, with Gehrig still on top at .357.
New York gained a split by taking an 11–7 slugfest in the finale on September 20. Many fans felt the Tigers’ loss only served to delay an inevitable pennant for Detroit. Joe McCarthy’s Yankees trailed by 5½ games, and the season’s final bell had already begun to toll. Gehringer managed only one hit in five trips to the plate, to slip three percentage points behind Gehrig, who went 1-for-3. Babe Ruth did not play in the series, although he took batting practice before the final contest. He drove a few balls beyond the fence, giving early-arriving Tigers fans one final glimpse of the Sultan of Swat.
With their first pennant since 1909 al
l but a certainty, the Tigers travelled south to St. Louis for four games beginning with a doubleheader on September 22. Indeed, there was nothing like Browns pitching to break a team out of its offensive funk. In the opener, Tommy Bridges became a 20-game winner for the first time in his career, hurling a seven-hitter in an 8–3 victory. It was a moment to savor for Little Tommy. Along with his knee-buckling curveball, he had become one of the best pitchers in the American League on guile and guts. In the second game of the twin bill, Gehringer went 3-for-5, to raise his average to .357, putting him in a dead heat with Gehrig. Goslin went 5-for-5, and the Tigers’ bats exploded in a 15–1 laugher. The St. Louis defense fell apart, as only five of the Detroit runs were earned.
After the game, a reporter asked Cochrane which pitcher would get the nod in the first game of the World Series. Black Mike did not hesitate in his answer. “That’s easy—Rowe. I don’t care who the other manager picks. It may be bad bridge, but it’s good baseball to lead your ace and that’s what I’m going to do.”19 Not wishing to sound premature, however, Cochrane was quick to add, “If we don’t win the pennant, look for me at the bottom of Lake Erie.”20
In the first game of a doubleheader the next day, Rowe was denied his chance at win number 25, as the Browns pulled out a 4–3 victory. In the second game, General Crowder again showed he was not yet ready for pasture, going the distance and giving up only one run in a 2–1 win. In New York, the Yankees took two from the Red Sox, cutting Detroit’s lead to 5½ games.
The Tigers wrapped up the American League championship the following afternoon, September 24. Although Cochrane’s men had an open date, the Yankees fell to the Red Sox in the Bronx, 5–0. The unlikely hero of the game for Boston was 24-year-old rookie Spike Merena, who threw a four-hit shutout for his first (and only) big league victory. At approximately five o’clock, and with only 2,000 or so diehards still around to see it, Tony Lazzeri grounded into a 5–4–3 double play to end the game, and the Tigers were officially World Series-bound. The big news of the day, at least for Yankees fans, was the final appearance at the Stadium by Babe Ruth. His departure after 16 seasons in the Bronx was already a foregone conclusion. Still limping badly, Babe started in right field and caught a fly ball in the top of the first that he fortunately did not even have to move on. In the bottom half of the inning, he drew a walk before gingerly hobbling to first base. Unable to carry on, he called for a pinch-runner, exited the field to the cheers of the small crowd, and just that like, the Babe’s long and storied career in pinstripes came to a close.
Motor City Champs Page 13