Bob Page

Hank Greenberg realized that: "Public displays of anger only provoked anti-Semites and gained him neither respect nor peace." After a game in Chicago, in which the White Sox bench had rode Hank Greenberg hard, and yelled, “kike,” “sheenie”, “Jew bastard” and, “a yellow Jew son of a bitch" at him, Greenberg took off his jersey, marched over into the White Sox clubhouse and said he wanted players who insulted him with slurs: "To get on their feet." The locker room fell silent. The White Sox players never antagonized him again. In 1934, when he was 23 years old, Hank Greenberg decided he would not play on the Jewish New Year, 'Rosh Hashanah', a holiday when observant Jews were supposed to pray and not work. But the Tigers were in a close race for the American League pennant. The team needed Hank Greenberg, their star player. A local newspaper reporter interviewed a Detroit Rabbi and asked if it was acceptable for Greenberg to play. The Rabbi said it was OK. Deciding at the last minute, Greenberg played and hit two home runs. Detroit won the game, 2-1. The "Detroit Free Press" ran a headline in Yiddish, with an English translation: "Happy New Year, Hank." Ten days later came Yom Kippur, the most sacred of all Jewish holidays. Also known as the Day of Atonement, observant Jews are to spend the day in prayer and self-reflection: Baseball was not on the agenda. This time, Greenberg did not play, and attended services instead. When Greenberg entered the synagogue, the congregation applauded. Nearly a half-century later, Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer were considering whether the Supreme Court should meet on Yom Kippur. They too found inspiration from Greenberg; Ginsburg noted that Greenberg did not: "Betray his conscience." The Supreme Court did not meet on Yom Kippur that year, and it hasn’t since. "A man of quiet dignity."