Over the last one hundred years many professional baseball players have made the decision not to participate in games on important religious holidays. Among the most famous of these occurrences was In 1965 when Sandy Koufax refused to pitch in Game One of the World Series because it was Yom Kippur a Jewish holy day Long before Koufax Jewish holidays were a knotty issue among baseball players. In 1934 Hank Greenberg the Jewish Babe Ruth anguished over whether or not to play on Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year and the first of the High Holy Days on September 10 1934. That day the Detroit Tigers faced the Boston Red Sox in a key game. The Detroit media aware of Greenberg's indecision sought out the opinions of local rabbis with the Detroit News running a headline saying "Talmud Clears Greenberg for Holiday Play." "The team was fighting for first place" wrote Greenberg in his autobiography "and I was probably the only batter in the lineup who was not in a slump. But in the Jewish religion it is traditional that one observe the holiday solemnly with prayer. I wasn't sure what to do." Greenberg skipped batting practice that day thought some more and finally chose to take the field. He celebrated the New Year with two solo shots off the Red Sox. His second homer a titanic blast off Boston's Gordon Rhodes in the ninth won the game for the Tigers 2-1. Bud Shaver of the Detroit Times wrote that Greenberg's round-trippers "were propelled by a force born of the desperation and pride of a young Jew who turned his back on the ancient ways of his race and creed to help his teammates." Shaver added a quote from the young slugger: "The good Lord did not let me down."

The offered OAL (Harridge) baseball is inscribed as the one hit by Greenberg in the in the bottom of the 9th inning at Navin Field to defeat the Red Sox 2-1. Faint notations in pencil of HOME RUN with the date SEPT. 10 1934 have been written over with Greenbergs period black fountain signature and side panel notation MON. SEPT. 10 1934 WINNING H. RUN in matching ink. The ball shows expected evidence of wear and soiling from game use. A signed home run ball from Hank Greenberg of any kind is a significant artifact. The reverberating effect of the events leading up to during and long after Sept. 10 1934 make this a monumental piece of history.

Includes a full LOA from PSA/DNA.