Age: 34 (May 11)
12th
season with Tigers
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 180
Prior to 1937:
The son of
German immigrants, Gehringer was a Michigan native who was a pitcher and
infielder at Fowlerville High School. He played third base at the Univ. of
Michigan prior to signing with the Tigers in 1923. First assigned to the London
Tecumsehs of the Class B Michigan-Ontario League, Gehringer batted .292 and was
shifted to second base. He received a September call-up to the Tigers and hit
.462 in five games. With the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class AA International
League in 1925 he hit .325 with 38 doubles, 9 triples, and 25 home runs, earning
another late stint with Detroit. He stuck with the Tigers as a reserve in 1926
until illness sidelined regular second baseman Frank O’Rourke. He ended up
hitting .277 as a rookie with 19 doubles, 17 triples, 1 home run, and 48 RBIs
and was okay in the field. He improved to .317 in 1927 with 29 doubles, 11
triples, 4 home runs, and 61 RBIs. He also led all AL second basemen with 769
total chances, 438 assists, and 84 double plays. The progress continued in 1928
when he hit .320, topped AL second basemen with 507 assists, and finished
eighth in league MVP voting. Gehringer had a big offensive year in 1929 as he batted
.339 and led the AL in plate appearances (717), runs (131), hits (215), doubles
(45), triples (19), and stolen bases (27). Gehringer’s rise continued over the
next several seasons as he regularly hit over .300 and ranked among the best
defensive second basemen. Quiet and methodical in his approach to the game, he
came to be called “the Mechanical Man”. In 1933 he started at second base for
the AL in the first All-Star Game, a distinction he would repeat over the next
five consecutive years. Detroit won the AL pennant in 1934 and Gehringer
contributed a .356 batting average with a league-leading 135 runs scored and
214 hits. He also compiled 50 doubles, 7 triples, 11 home runs, and 127 RBIs.
The Tigers repeated in 1935, this time winning the World Series as well, and
the star second baseman batted .330 with 201 hits, 123 runs, 32 doubles, 8
triples, 19 home runs, and 108 RBIs. He also added a .375 average in the World
Series triumph over the Cubs. Gehringer had another typically strong
performance in 1936 for the second place Tigers, batting .354 with a
league-leading 60 doubles, and finished fourth in league MVP voting, his fifth
straight finish among the Top 10.
1937 Season Summary
Appeared in 144
games
2B – 142, PH –
2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 662 [19]
At Bats – 564
Runs – 133 [5]
Hits – 209 [5]
Doubles – 40 [11,
tied with Joe Cronin]
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 14
[17, tied with Beau Bell & Tony Lazzeri]
RBI – 96 [16]
Bases on Balls
– 90 [6, tied with Red Rolfe]
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 25
Stolen Bases – 11
[13, tied with four others]
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .371
[1]
OBP - .458 [2]
Slugging Pct. -
.520 [12]
Total Bases – 293
[14]
GDP – N/A
Hit by Pitches
– 1
Sac Hits – 5
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading
batting average was +.020 ahead of runner-up Lou Gehrig
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 16, HR – 3, RBI – 32, AVG - .362, SLG PCT - .486
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis Browns 8/14
Longest hitting
streak – 20 games
HR at home – 10
HR on road – 4
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis Browns 8/14
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 6 vs. Chi. White Sox 8/12, vs. St. Louis Browns 8/14
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances - 828
Put Outs – 331
Assists – 485
Errors – 12
DP – 102
Pct. - .986
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (started
for AL at 2B)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Charlie
Gehringer, Det.: 78 pts. – 6 of 8 first place votes, 98% share
Joe DiMaggio,
NYY: 74 pts. – 2 first place votes, 93% share
Hank Geenberg,
Det.: 48 pts. – 60% share
Lou Gehrig, NYY:
42 pts. – 53% share
Bill Dickey,
NYY: 22 pts. – 28% share
Luke Sewell,
ChiWS: 22 pts. – 28% share
---
Tigers went 89-65
to finish second in the AL, 13 games behind the pennant-winning New York
Yankees while leading the league in hits (1611), batting (.292), on-base
percentage (.370), and batter strikeouts (712).
Aftermath of ‘37:
Gehringer
followed up with one more All-Star season in 1938, batting .306 with a
career-high 20 home runs plus 107 RBIs. He remained with the Tigers until 1942,
when as a player/coach he appeared in 45 games, primarily as a pinch-hitter,
and hit .267 before retiring at age 39 to enter the Navy for service during
World War II. Over the course of his long career he batted .320 with 2839 hits
that included 574 doubles, 146 triples, and 184 home runs. He also compiled
1427 RBIs and 181 stolen bases. In the field he led AL second basemen in
fielding percentage and assists seven times apiece, in double plays four times,
and in putouts three times. He was a six-time All-Star and hit .321 in 20 World
Series games. “The Mechanical Man” was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1949. The Tigers retired his #2. Gehringer lived until 1993 when he died at
the age of 89.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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