About Charlie Gehringer
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. When second baseman Frank O'Rourke contracted measles, Gehringer played his first game as a starter on April 28, 1926. In 1934, Gehringer had his best year to date, playing all 154 games and leading the Tigers to their first American League pennant in 25 years.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.