Charlie Gehringer, Hall of Fame Detroit Tigers second baseman
You can wind him up in the spring and he'll hit .320 with 40 doubles.
Lefty Gomez
Charles Leonard Gehringer was born May 11, 1903 in Fowlerville, Michigan. Charlie spent his younger life working on the family farm and playing baseball on the weekends. After spending a year playing with the University of Michigan team while majoring in physical education, Charlie got the opportunity to tryout for Detroit greats Bobby Veach and Ty Cobb. He so impressed the two that he was picked up by the Tigers that week.
After two short stints with the club in 1924 and 1925, Charlie became the Tigers' everyday second baseman in 1926, where he had a mundane rookie season, batting .277 in 123 games. After that, though, Charlie was a regular dynamo at the plate, batting .300 or higher in 13 of his next 14 seasons and leading the league in a number of offensive categories. In 1929, Charlie slapped out 215 hits, including 45 doubles and 19 triples, and stole 27 bases, all tops in the league.
Throughout the 1930s, Charlie was regarded as the best fielding second baseman in baseball. He was frequently in the top three in fielding percentage and putouts, and his play in the field and at the plate was so good that he was dubbed "The Mechanical Man" by opponent Lefty Gomez. The name didn't just refer to his play on the field; Charlie was the strong, silent type, and rarely made waves with the media or within the team. Along with Hank Greenberg and Goose Goslin, Charlie was part of Detroit's elite "G-Men" team, a team that went to the World Series three times, with Charlie providing the winning run in the 1935 World Series.
During the offseason, Charlie worked at a department store as a sales clerk, and spent many years barnstorming through Canada with players from the Negro League, including Buck Leonard, Judy Johnson, and Satchel Paige. He also began working at an auto store, which he would later buy after his playing days were over.
In 1936, Charlie had another all-around electric seasons, batting .354 with 60 doubles, scoring 144 runs in the process. The following year he won his only batting title with a .371 clip, and captured the league's Most Valuable Player award. What makes Charlie's statistics all the more amazing is that he was one of the most consistent players in the game, compiling two streaks of 500 consecutive games played in his career. After two subpar seasons in 1941 and 1942, Charlie retired to join the Navy for World War II/
Charlie was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949, but missed his induction ceremonies - because he was getting married! In 1951, he was named general manager of the Tigers, and eventually became an executive with the Tigers. He also served for 30 years as a member of the Veterans Committee of the Hall of Fame.
Charlie Gehringer, the Mechanical Man, passed away January 21, 1993 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Career Statistics
YEAR TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA
1924 DET AL 5 13 2 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 .462
1925 DET AL 8 18 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 .167
1926 DET AL 123 459 62 127 19 17 1 48 9 7 30 42 .277
1927 DET AL 133 508 110 161 29 11 4 61 17 8 52 31 .317
1928 DET AL 154 603 108 193 29 16 6 74 15 9 69 22 .320
1929 DET AL 155 634 131 215 45 19 13 106 27 9 64 19 .339
1930 DET AL 154 610 144 201 47 15 16 98 19 15 69 17 .330
1931 DET AL 101 383 67 119 24 5 4 53 13 4 29 15 .311
1932 DET AL 152 618 112 184 44 11 19 107 9 8 68 34 .298
1933 DET AL 155 628 103 204 42 6 12 105 5 4 68 27 .325
1934 DET AL 154 601 134 214 50 7 11 127 11 8 99 25 .356
1935 DET AL 150 610 123 201 32 8 19 108 11 4 79 16 .330
1936 DET AL 154 641 144 227 60 12 15 116 4 1 83 13 .354
1937 DET AL 144 564 133 209 40 1 14 96 11 4 90 25 .371
1938 DET AL 152 568 133 174 32 5 20 107 14 1 113 21 .306
1939 DET AL 118 406 86 132 29 6 16 86 4 3 68 16 .325
1940 DET AL 139 515 108 161 33 3 10 81 10 0 101 17 .313
1941 DET AL 127 436 65 96 19 4 3 46 1 2 95 26 .220
1942 DET AL 45 45 6 12 0 0 1 7 0 0 7 4 .267
CAREER 2323 8860 1774 2839 574 146 184 1427 181 89 1186 372 .320
* Bold denotes led league
Hall of Fame Index
Lou Gehrig | Bob Gibson