Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers for 19 seasons from 1924 to 1942. He compiled a .320 career batting average with 2,839 hits and 1,427 runs batted in (RBIs). He had seven seasons with more than 200 hits and was the starting second baseman and played every inning of the first six All Star Games. He won the American League batting title in 1937 with a .371 average and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award. He helped lead the Tigers to three American League pennants (1934, 1935, and 1940) and the 1935 World Series championship.
Gehringer was also one of the best fielding second basemen in history. At the time of his retirement, he ranked first in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 1,444 double plays turned at second base (now seventh in MLB history). He remains among MLB's all-time leaders with 7,068 assists at second base (second in MLB history) and 5,369 putouts (sixth in MLB history).
Gehringer later served as the Tigers general manager during the 1952 and 1953 seasons. After his playing career ended, he operated a company serving as an agent for manufacturers of automobile interior furnishings. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949 and had his jersey (No. 2) retired by the Tigers in 1983.
Gehringer was born on May 11, 1903, on a farm in Iosco Township, Michigan. The son of German immigrants, he had nine half-siblings from his parents' prior marriages. When Gehringer was a young boy, the family moved to a 220-acre dairy and grain farm two miles south of Fowlerville, Michigan.
Gehringer later recalled his introduction to baseball:
We used to play a lot of baseball games out on the farm. We'd just throw three bags out there for bases and choose up sides. We'd usually get enough for two full teams. On a Sunday afternoon, nobody had anything better to do, so we'd just play baseball all day.
Gehringer attended Fowlerville High School where he led the baseball team to a state championship while playing as both an infielder and pitcher. He also played for a Fowlerville summer league team that competed against other town teams.
In 1921, Gehringer enrolled at the University of Michigan to study physical education and played on the university's freshman baseball team. The Ann Arbor News in May 1923 called him "one of the best third baseman prospects that has reported for a freshman squad in several years." Gehringer later recalled that he also played basketball at the University of Michigan: "Funny thing is, I won a letter in basketball but I didn' get one in baseball."
Discovery and minor leagues (1923 to 1925)
In the fall of 1923, after his first year at the University of Michigan, Gehringer was discovered by Detroit Tigers left fielder Bobby Veach. Veach was hunting in Fowlerville when a friend, Floyd Smith, recommended that Veach have a look at Gehringer. Veach brought him to Navin Field to work out and show the Tigers what he could do. Player-manager Ty Cobb was reportedly so impressed that he asked club owner Frank Navin to sign Gehringer to a contract on the spot. "I knew Charlie would hit and I was so anxious to sign him that I didn't even take the time to change out of my uniform before rushing him into the front office to sign a contract."'
In 1924, Gehringer played with London Tecumsehs in the Class B Michigan Ontario League. He was called up briefly at the end of September and played five games for the Tigers, batting .462 in 13 at-bats. He returned to the minor leagues where he played in 1925 for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, compiling a .325 batting average with 206 hits and 25 home runs. In a brief call-up at the end of the 1925 season, he appeared in eight games for the Tigers, compiling a .167 batting average in 18 at bats.
Gehringer made the Tigers' regular-season roster in the spring of 1926. When second baseman Frank O'Rourke contracted measles, Gehringer played his first game as a starter on April 28, 1926. Gehringer committed two costly errors and was hitless in four at bats, leading the Associated Press to write:Yesterday there was written at Navin field the sad story of the ambitious small town boy from a quiet Michigan village and his big league debut. It was sad because the ambitious boy, who has been called by Ty Cobb one of the best natural ball players he ever saw, made two glaring errors and otherwise deported himself unseemingly.
Gehringer took over as the Tigers' second baseman, appearing in 112 games at the position in 1926. He hit .277 and tallied 17 triples, second best in the American League. Playing for the "small ball" oriented Cobb, Gehringer also had a career-high 27 sacrifice hits in 1926. After Cobb's departure, Gehringer never again came close to 27 sacrifice hits.
Gehringer recalled that, at the start, Cobb "was like a father to me." Gehringer's father had died in 1924. Cobb even made Gehringer use his own bat. According to Gehringer, Cobb's bat was "a thin little thing", and though Gehringer would have preferred a bigger bat, "I didn't dare use another one." Cobb and Gehringer subsequently had a falling out. Cobb told Gehringer he needed more "pepper" and should "chatter like the rest of the infield." Cobb became peeved when Gehringer replied that "there were enough people talking and saying nothing." Gehringer later described Cobb as "a real hateful guy."
Gehringer becomes a star: 1927–1933
After the 1926 season, Cobb left the Tigers and was replaced as manager by George Moriarty. During the off-season, Moriarty acquired Marty McManus from the St. Louis Browns. Moriarty chose McManus as his starting second baseman at the start of the 1927 season, but McManus was benched for disciplinary reasons, giving Gehringer the opportunity to return to the starting lineup at second base.
Gehringer seized the opportunity and had his breakout season in 1927. He led the American League's second basemen with 438 assists, 84 double plays turned, and a range factor of 6.19. He also blossomed as a hitter, batting .317 and scoring 110 runs — fourth best in the American League.
In 1928, he played in all 154 games for the Tigers, beginning a streak of 511 consecutive games. He hit .320, collected 193 hits (fifth best in the league), scored 108 runs (fifth best in the league), and had 507 assists (best in the league for a second baseman). At the end of the 1928 season, Gehringer placed 19th in the voting for the American League's Most Valuable Player.