The Mechanical Man was consistently good for several seasons at a very demanding position. He was the Tigers second baseman for sixteen full seasons and portions of three others. In his second full season, 1927, he hit .317, and began a fourteen season streak where he never hit below .298. He won his only batting title, and subsequently the MVP, in 1937 by hitting .371, but probably his best season was 1936, when he hit .354 and had 60 doubles, which is the sixth most in a season ever. He was good fielder, racking up 462 Fielding Runs Above Replacement (adjusted for all time), which is slightly better then nine time gold glove second baseman Ryne Sandberg. Probably the most impressive statistic is his strikeout to walk ratio. He walked 1,186 times, and struck out only 372.

1935 was an excellent year for Gehringer. He put up a .330/.409/.502 season, garnering 201 hits, 123 runs, and 108 RBIs. He hit nineteen homers, which was the second most he ever hit in a season. This total doesn’t seem like a big deal now, but at the time, it was good for eighth in the American League.

If there was a big three in Detroit in the mid-30s, it was Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, and Charlie Gehringer. If you look at the 1935 team season leaders, one of these three guys are listed for every single category.

Permalink | Posted in 1935 Diary