Greenberg came close to breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1938. His Tigers teams had four World Series appearances, winning two of them. He achieved all of this while dealing with anti-Semitic insults that were common in baseball at the time. His parents were both Jewish Romanian immigrants. They moved to America and started working men's clothing stores where Hank was born. He got his big break in 1939 when he was hired by the New York Yankees as a batting practice pitcher. In 1940, he became a full-time player and led the league in home runs with 46. The next year, he broke the record again with 47 homers. During his time with the Yankees, he became one of the only players to hit over.300 every season except for 1945 when he was drafted into the military. After his retirement in 1952, he worked in various capacities with the Yankees organization for several years before dying of cancer in 2006 at the age of 93. Here are some other famous baseball players who played for the New York Yankees: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris. There were also many other great players from the American League. Hank Greenberg is one of only nine people to win the Home Run Derby twice. The others are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez.