Charlie Gehringer

• Born: May 11, 1903
• Birthplace: Fowlerville, Michigan
• Died: January 21, 1993
• Place of death: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Charles Leonard Gehringer was born on May 11, 1903, in Fowlerville, Michigan. His family lived on a farm near Lansing. Charlie’s older brother, Al, operated all the farming equipment while the younger boy picked corn and shocked wheat. Charlie hated farmwork and early on thought about a career requiring shorter hours and less work. Charlie began playing baseball when he was seven. He was a pitcher through high school, but, after pitching in a few semiprofessional games, he realized his curveball was not good enough and switched to second base. He attended the University of Michigan for one year, playing both football and baseball.

The Road to Excellence

In 1923, Detroit Tiger outfielder Bobby Veach, who hunted in Fowlerville, heard about Charlie from one of his hunting companions and arranged for a tryout with the Tigers. Ty Cobb, then a player-manager for Detroit, was impressed by the young man’s hitting and fielding and signed him to a contract after a week of workouts. Becoming part of the Detroit organization fulfilled a lifelong dream for Charlie, who, as a boy, cut pictures of the Tigers out of newspapers, pasted them in a scrapbook, and stared at them for hours. The modest Charlie did not expect to become a star; he hoped merely to learn enough to be a coach. Cobb became Charlie’s mentor, teaching him to change his batting stance against different pitchers and to spray hits to all parts of the field. Cobb, who was sparing with his compliments, told the youngster he was, after Eddie Collins, the best second baseman he had ever seen.

In 1926, after two seasons in the minor leagues, Charlie was scheduled to be the Tigers’ starting second baseman but did something to upset Cobb near the end of spring training. The manager not only would not explain what the problem was but also refused even to speak to Charlie, communicating to him through coaches. Charlie sat on the bench until Frank O’Rourke came down with measles. Cobb treated Charlie like a schoolboy, once making him stay in the clubhouse an hour after everyone had left because Charlie had allowed the St. Louis Browns’ Ken Williams—whom the manager disliked—to beat out a bunt. Cobb was out as Detroit’s manager by the end of the season.

The Emerging Champion

In 1927, Charlie batted more than .300 for the first of thirteen times, and by 1929, he was one of the best players in baseball, leading the American League in hits, runs, doubles, triples, and stolen bases. While he was doing well, his team was not. In 1934, however, after six straight seasons in the league’s second division, Detroit, behind player-manager Mickey Cochrane, won 101 games and the pennant. Charlie, first baseman Hank Greenberg, shortstop Billy Rogell, and third baseman Marv Owen set a major-league record for runs driven in by a group of infielders, with 462. In the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Charlie hit a home run off Dizzy Dean to win the fifth game, but the Tigers lost the final two games at home. In 1935, however, the Tigers defeated the Chicago Cubs in six games for the team’s first world championship after four losing efforts. Charlie played in only one other World Series, when Detroit lost to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games in 1940.

Continuing the Story

Charlie improved steadily over the first decade of his career, which reached its apex in 1937, when he led the league with a .371 batting average and was named most valuable player. He had finished two points behind Cochrane in the 1934 voting.

Charlie credited his batting achievements to his patience. Almost always, he took the first pitch, feeling he was a better hitter when the pitcher was ahead in the count because his concentration improved. Wes Ferrell claimed that Charlie, not Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, was the toughest hitter he ever faced because Charlie allowed the pitcher an advantage and still got hits, often crucial ones to tie or win games. Charlie was such a master of bat control that he struck out only once every twenty-seven plate appearances over his career.

Charlie is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen of all time, but he always downgraded his fielding ability: “You just get that part done so you can go back up and hit,” he said. He excelled in all aspects of the game. Once, after Charlie took advantage of a New York Yankees lapse to steal a base while no one was looking, Babe Ruth remarked, “Look at that. He does everything right.” Charlie was known for taciturnity. His teammates nicknamed him “the mechanical man,” as much for his undemonstrative manner as for his efficient playing. Charlie was once having breakfast with the equally quiet Elon Hogsett, and the Tiger pitcher said, “Pass the salt.” Charlie replied, “You might have pointed.”

After serving as a Tiger coach in 1942, Charlie spent three years in the navy. In 1949, he missed his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame to be secretly married in Santa Clara, California. From 1951 to 1953, he was Detroit’s general manager and vice president, and continued in the latter position until 1959. Thanks to a 1938 investment in an automobile accessories business, Charlie became a millionaire. After leaving the Tigers, he lived in semiretirement with his wife, Josephine, in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

Summary

A graceful, effortless fielder, Charlie Gehringer led American League second basemen in fielding percentage five times. As a batter, he led the league in nine major offensive categories between 1929 and 1937. He excelled under pressure, batting .321 in three World Series. He played every inning of the first six all-star games, batting .500. He was not a colorful or outlandish player but was consistent and respectable.

Bibliography

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Porter, David L., ed. Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Baseball. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000.

Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. New York: Perennial Currents, 2002.

Roberts, Russell. One Hundred Baseball Legends Who Shaped Sports History. San Mateo, Calif.: Bluewood Books, 2003.

Shatzkin, Mike, Stephen Holtje, and Jane Charlton, eds. The Ballplayers: Baseball’s Ultimate Biographical Reference. New York: Ideal Logic Press, 1999.