CHARLIE GEHRINGER
Second Baseman, 1924-1942
"The Mechanical Man"
#2
--Class of 1945--
Bats - Left
Throws - Right
Born - 5/11/1903
Died - 1/21/1993
Biography:
The Fowlerville native was known as "The Mechanical Man" – and for good reason. "You wind him up in the spring and he goes all summer. He hits .330 or .340 or whatever, and then shuts off in the fall," said Yankees Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez. And that was about it. He was a quiet man who didn’t marry until after his mother’s death, devoted to her to the very end. On the field he was a model of consistency at second base and at the plate. Already considered baseball's best defensive second baseman for most of his career, he also batted .320 during his 19-year career in Detroit. He finished his career with 2,839 hits, and clouted 574 doubles. He scored 1,774 runs and plated 1,427 more. He also found time to steal 182 bases. During the 1930s, he was one of the Tigers’ "G Men." Along with Hank Greenberg and Goose Goslin, Gehringer made up a potent offense that led the American League comfortably in runs scored between 1934 and 1935. In 1934 he combined with Greenberg, Billy Rogell, and Marv Owen for what was one of baseball’s top run-producing infields. Gehringer drove in 127 runs that season, while Rogell was the only infielder not to reach 100 RBI's, tallying 96. An All-Star selection in 1933, Gehringer was selected to six straight Summer Classics. He also was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1937, when he batted an incredible .371 with 14 home runs and 96 RBI. He played with the Tigers right through 1942, whereupon at age 39 he joined the Navy, midway through the Second World War. Year later, from 1951-1953, Gehringer served as the Tigers' general manager. He continued to serve in the front office as vice president until 1959. Throughout his career, Gehringer frequently played in barnstorming games against Negro League teams, and his legend was thus furthered. "He was some ball player," remarked fellow Hall of Famer and Negro League star Cool Papa Bell. The admiration was mutual.
He was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1949 and joined the Michigan Hall of Fame in 1956. His number was retired on the same day as his great teammate Greenberg.
Hitting:
Code:
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ TB SH HBP
1924 21 DET AL 5 13 2 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 .462 .462 .462 140 6 0 0
1925 22 DET AL 8 18 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 .167 .250 .167 8 3 0 0
1926 23 DET AL 123 459 62 127 19 17 1 48 9 7 30 42 .277 .322 .399 86 183 27 1
1927 24 DET AL 133 508 110 161 29 11 4 61 17 8 52 31 .317 .383 .441 112 224 9 2
1928 25 DET AL 154 603 108 193 29 16 6 74 15 9 69 22 .320 .395 .451 120 272 13 6
1929 26 DET AL 155 634 131 215 45 19 13 106 27 9 64 19 .339 .405 .532 139 337 11 6
1930 27 DET AL 154 610 144 201 47 15 16 98 19 15 69 17 .330 .404 .534 134 326 13 7
1931 28 DET AL 101 383 67 119 24 5 4 53 13 4 29 15 .311 .359 .431 104 165 2 0
1932 29 DET AL 152 618 112 184 44 11 19 107 9 8 68 34 .298 .370 .497 119 307 3 3
1933 30 DET AL 155 628 103 204 42 6 12 105 5 4 68 27 .325 .393 .468 126 294 6 3
1934 31 DET AL 154 601 134 214 50 7 11 127 11 8 99 25 .356 .450 .517 149 311 5 3
1935 32 DET AL 150 610 123 201 32 8 19 108 11 4 79 16 .330 .409 .502 137 306 17 3
1936 33 DET AL 154 641 144 227 60 12 15 116 4 1 83 13 .354 .431 .555 142 356 3 4
1937 34 DET AL 144 564 133 209 40 1 14 96 11 4 90 25 .371 .458 .520 144 293 5 1
1938 35 DET AL 152 568 133 174 32 5 20 107 14 1 113 21 .306 .425 .486 122 276 3 4
1939 36 DET AL 118 406 86 132 29 6 16 86 4 3 68 16 .325 .423 .544 138 221 11 1
1940 37 DET AL 139 515 108 161 33 3 10 81 10 0 101 17 .313 .428 .447 118 230 10 3
1941 38 DET AL 127 436 65 96 19 4 3 46 1 2 95 26 .220 .363 .303 71 132 3 3
1942 39 DET AL 45 45 6 12 0 0 1 7 0 0 7 4 .267 .365 .333 91 15 0 0
YR From To G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS OPS+
TOTALS 19 1924 1942 2323 8860 1774 2839 574 146 184 1427 1186 372 .320 .404 .480 181 89 124