"You wind up Gehringer in the spring and turn him off in the fall and in between he hits .340."-Yankees Pitcher Lefty Gomez, explaining why Gehringer was called "the Mechanical Man"
Charlie Gehringer ranks among the finest second basemen of all time both on the field and at the plate. From 1924 until 1942, he played 2206 games for the Tigers, all but 9 at second base. Had he played in an era of Gold Gloves, he would have won one nearly every season. He was also a lifetime .320 hitter (.298 neutralized).
Gehringer was so highly thought of that he was named to every one of the first six All Star games, starting in 1933, when he was already 11 years into his career. He was also the AL MVP in 1937.
Gehringer attended the University of Michigan for a year, but left to sign with the Tigers in 1924. After Tiger second baseman Frank O'Rourke got ill in 1926, Gehringer replaced him and never relinquished the job. In all, Gehringer played 16 full seasons, hitting over .300 in 13 of them. He was particularly dangerous with two strikes, and in the clutch with runners in scoring position.
Gehringer left after the 1942 season to join the US Navy. After the war, Gehringer returned to the Tigers as both a coach and then a club executive.
He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1949.
Sources:
CWCI, chapter 9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Gehringerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Gehringer
Hawkins, Ewald, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 58.
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