Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 23, 1993 TAG: 9301230211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
HALL OF FAMER, LONGTIME TIGER GEHRINGER DIES AT 89
Charlie Gehringer, a Hall of Fame second baseman who spent his entire 19-year career with the Detroit Tigers, has died. He was 89.Gehringer died Thursday. His wife Josephine said he had been in a nursing home since suffering a stroke last month.
Gehringer played for the Tigers from 1924-42. He won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1937, when he led the league with a .371 batting average. He also played in the 1934, 1935 and 1940 World Series, averaging .321.
Friends of Gehringer remembered him as a craftsman on the field and a gentleman at all times.
"He's the epitome of one of the great outstanding players in the history of the game," said Hal Newhouser, a Hall of Fame pitcher who played with Gehringer for four seasons. "He was the type of fellow [who] when he played you didn't even know he was around. Everything was done with precision."
Said Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, "I just think about a very high-class guy who had the respect of everyone in his profession, and even outside his profession."
Gehringer, a left-handed hitter, finished his career with a .320 batting average and 2,839 hits. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949 and was the Tigers' general manager from 1951-53.
Gehringer gave Tigers owner Mike Ilitch his start in baseball. Ilitch remembers being fresh from the Marine Corps when Gehringer, then Detroit's general manager, called him for a meeting.
"I got out of the streetcar and I couldn't believe I was going to see him," Ilitch said. "It was one of the thrills of a lifetime."
Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline said fame never went to Gehringer's head.
"It was surprising to have someone as great of an athlete and as great of a ballplayer as he was to have that modesty," Kaline said.
Former Tigers president Jim Campbell said Gehringer attracted fans wherever he went. During the first gathering of Tigers old-timers in Florida, Campbell said, Gehringer and Greenberg stole the show.
"I tell you, they all crowded around Charlie and Hank Greenberg," Campbell said. "They were the pillar of strength in that era, back in the early '30s."
Gehringer and Greenberg had their numbers retired together in 1983.
Gehringer also played with Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.
"Cobb didn't think much of me, but he did take the time to show me how to hit properly," Gehringer once said after his playing days were over. "He made me use his own bat, a real good one."
Gehringer had at least 200 hits and 100 RBI in seven seasons. He scored more than 100 runs 12 times and batted at least .300 in 13 seasons.