Hall Of Fame War Heroes Include Kiner and Greenberg
By Joe Guzzardi
Legendary Pittsburgh Pirates sluggers Ralph Kiner and Hank Greenberg shared more than Hall of Fame induction. They were World War II heroes whose Buccos power-hitting careers overlapped, and led to the construction of Forbes Field’s controversial Greenberg Gardens. Over the years, Kiner and Greenberg developed an enduring friendship.
The day after Pearl Harbor, Kiner enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Kiner flew Martin PBM Mariners from Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii on submarine search patrols, and accumulated 1,200 flying hours. Unlike most other major league players stationed in the Pacific, Kiner played little baseball during his Navy service. As Kiner recalled, he played at the most six games during his two and a half Navy years. Kiner considered his pilot training and defending America more valuable than baseball.
When the war ended, the Pirates had Kiner penciled in to begin the 1946 season for the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars. But during Spring Training, Kiner tore the cover off the ball, and made the Pirates active roster. The Pirates chose wisely. Despite Forbes Field’s imposing dimensions for a right-handed hitter, 365’ down the left field line, 406’ in left center and 457’ in dead center, Kiner’s 23 home runs led the league in his rookie 1946 season, and he topped the league every year thereafter through 1952. Kiner’s home run title streak for seven consecutive years is an unbreakable record.
Enter Greenberg. In the 1946 off season, the Pirates bought American League home run king and two-time MVP Hank Greenberg, who was embroiled in a bitter salary dispute with the Detroit Tigers. Like Kiner, Greenberg served in World War II. Greenberg was drafted in 1941, and he was honorably discharged when Congress released servicemen age 28 years and older. After Pearl Harbor, Sergeant Greenberg volunteered to join the U.S. Army Air Corps. “We are in trouble,” Greenberg told The Sporting News, “and there is only one thing for me to do – return to the service.” Assigned to the first Boeing B-29 Superfortresses’ group to go overseas, Greenberg spent 1944 flying in the India-China-Burma theater. Greenberg served 47 months, the longest of any major league player.
When he joined the Pirates, Greenberg befriended Kiner, corrected his swing, which during the following season helped raised his anemic batting average from .247 to .313, and increased his home run output to 51. Pirates’ management, in turn, acted swiftly to help Greenberg hit more homers; they installed an inner fence that shortened left field’s distance by 30’. Society for American Baseball Research historian Ron Backer analyzed the controversial Greenberg Gardens’ consequences, and found that the new construction benefited Kiner more than Greenberg.
In his one year with the Pirates, 1947, Greenberg hit only 25 home runs. Of that total, 18 were hit at Forbes Field, of which nine landed in the Gardens. Of the 369 home runs that Kiner hit throughout his major league career, 71 landed in Greenberg Gardens, or about 20 percent. Eventually, Greenberg Gardens became known as “Kiner’s Korner.” Greenberg Gardens and the home run barrage launched from Kiner’s bat that it facilitated made Pirates ownership the biggest winner. In 1947, for the first time in Pirates’ history, more than 1 million fans showed up at Forbes Field, a milestone that, even though the Pirates were perennial cellar-dwellers, continued throughout most of Kiner’s Corsair days.
In June 1953, General Manager Branch Rickey abruptly traded Kiner to the Chicago Cubs. Since Rickey’s arrival, the relationship between the two had been acrimonious. The next day, Rickey ordered the fence torn down and said: “I don’t believe in building artificial barriers to suit any individual.” The league intervened, ruled that parks could not be reconfigured in mid-season. The gardens remained in left field until February 1954.
After their playing days ended, Greenberg and Kiner had prosperous careers. In 1948, Greenberg became the Cleveland Indians farm director and in November 1949 was promoted to general manager. Greenberg assembled the 1954 Indians squad, which set the then-American League record for most wins in a season, 111. In his eight years as GM, the Indians finished in first or second place six times.
In 1956, Greenberg became the first Jewish ballplayer inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Greenberg died from liver cancer on September 4, 1986. Greenberg, along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx and Ted Williams, is one of only five players to hit over .300, have an on-base percentage over .400, and a slugging mark above .600. In 2013, Greenberg received the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award given to 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members to recognize the courage he displayed during his World War II Army Air Force service.
Kiner, injury-plagued, was traded from the Cubs to the Indians in 1955, but was unable to produce for his old friend Greenberg. After hitting only 18 homers, Kiner retired. During the late 1940s, Kiner dated Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh and Ava Gardner before marrying tennis star Nancy Chafee in 1951. Greenberg was Kiner’s best man. Then in 1962, he joined the expansion New York Mets broadcast team. Kiner joked that he was chosen “because I had a lot of experience with losing.” Kiner broadcast through 2013, and is one of the longest tenured broadcasters with a single team in MLB history. In tribute to Greenberg Gardens, Kiner’s post-game television show on WOR was called Kiner’s Korner and aired for more than 30 years. Kiner died of natural causes in February 2014. Like Greenberg, Kiner received the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award given in honor of his heroic World War II Navy service.
Kiner and Greenberg played important roles in Pittsburgh’s history and are remembered for being bright lights in an otherwise bleak chapter in the Pirates’ early 1950s Forbes Field era.
Joe Guzzardi is a Society for American Baseball Research historian. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com.
Hall Of Fame War Heroes Include Kiner and Greenberg
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