Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 44

12D DETROIT FREE PRESSSUNDAY. JUNE 12. 1983 Gehrkffer, silent star of pre-hype era By JOE LAPOINTE Free Press Sports Writer Charlie Gehringer remembers Babe Ruth as "a great big overgrown boy who used to like to drink beer, play cards and joke around. 'I if i 1 rS- 4 lilillliSiSij "He was always looking for a party," Gehringer, 80, said of the late Bambino. "He liked everybody, although he didn't know anybody's name.

Even on his own ball club, I don't think he knew anybody's first name. I get that way now, but I wasn't then. I went to Japan with him and got to know him there. He always called you Gehringer, a Tiger Hall of Famer who played second base from 1924 through 1942, will be honored at Tiger Stadium along with fellow Famer Hank Greenberg Sunday afternoon between games of a double-header against the Cleveland Indians. Gehringer's No.

2 and Greenberg's No. 5 will join Al Greenberg, after homering against the Cubs in the '45 Series, and (above) in 1980. Gehringer mMiMmmM liftiiiilii liiPiililll IT wmmsmm Gehringer and Dick McAuliffe discuss the tricks of their trade in 1963. Charles Leonard Gahringei Personal: Born May 11, 1903 in Fowlerville, Mich. 5-11, 180 threw right, batted left-handed married Josephine Stlllen, June 18, 1949.

Pro career: Named American League MVP In 1937 led AL in stolen bases In 1929 led AL second basemen in double plays, 1927, 1932 (tie), 1933 and 1936 batted .321 in 20 World Series games. Notes: Coach for Tigers, 1942 vice-president and general manager, August 1951 -October 1953 vice-president of team until 1959 named to Baseball Hall of Fame, 1949, and Michigan Hall of Fame, 1956. Henry Benjamin Croanbeig Personal: Born Jan. 1, 1911, In New York 6-3V4, 210 threw and batted right-handed Married Caral Glmbel, Feb. 18, 1946.

Pro career highlights: Tied major and American League record for most home runs (58) by right-handed hitter In 1938 Set major league record for most two-or-more-home run games In a season 11 times, 1938 Co-holder of World Series record for most hits in a game four, Oct. 6, 1934 American League MVP 1 935 and 1 940 named to Hall of Fame 1 956 batted .318 with five homers in 23 World Series games. Notes: 1942-44 seasons, and parts of the '41 and '45 seasons, spent in military service sold to Pittsburgh for undisclosed sum Jan. 8, 1947 released by Pirates Sept. 19, 1947 general manager Cleveland Indians, 1 948-57; vice-president Chicago White Sox, 1 959-63 member of Michigan Hall of Fame.

Year Team Pos AB 2B 3B HR RBI BA 1924 Detroit 2B 5 13 2 6 0 0 0 1 .462 1925 Detroit 2B 8 18 3 3000 0 .167 i 1926 Detroit 2B 123 459 62 127 19 17 1 48 .277 1927 Detroit 2B 133 508 110 161 29 11 4 61 .317 1928 Detroit 2B 154 603 108 193 29 16 6 74 .320 1929 Detroit 2B 155' 634 131 215 45 19 13 106 .339 1 1930 Detroit 2B 154' 610 144 201 47 15 16 98 .330 1931 Detroit 2B 101 383 67 119 24 5 4 53 .311 1932 Detroit 2B 152 618 112 184 44 11 19 107 .298 'i 1933 Detroit 2B 155 628 103 204 42 6 12 105 .325 1934 Detroit 2B 154 601 134 214 50 7 11 127 .356 V' 1935 Detroit 2B 150 610 123 201 32 8 19 108 .330 1 1936 Detroit 2B 154 641 144 227 60 12 15 116 .354 1937 Detroit 2B 144 564 133 209 40 1 14 96 .371 i 1938 Detroit 2B 152 568 133 174 32 5 20 107 .306 1939 Detroit 2B 118 406 86 132 29 6 16 86 .325 1940 Detroit 2B 139 515 108 161 33 3 10 81 .313 1941 Detroit 2B 127 436 65 96 19 4 3 46 .220 1942 Detroit 2B 45 45 6 12 0 0 1 7 .267 19 One 2323 8860 1774 2839 574 146184 1427 .320 Mmmmmmm Year Team Pos AB 2B 3B HR RBI BA 1930 Detroit 1B 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1933 Detroit 1B 117 449 59 135 33 3 12 87 .310 1934 Detroit 1B 153 593 118 201 63 7 26 139 .339 1935 Detroit 1B 152 619 121 203 46 16 36 170 .328 1936 Detroit 1B 12 46 10 16 6 2 1 16 .348 1937 Detroit 1B 154 594 137 200 49 14 40 183 .337 1938 Detroit 1B 155 556 144 175 23 4 58 146 .315 1939 Detroit 1B 138 500 112 156 42 7 33 112 .312 1940 Detroit OF 148 573 129 195 50 8 41 150 .340 1941 Detroit OF 19 67 12 18 5 1 2 12 .269 1945 Detroit OF 78 270 47 84 20 2 13 60 .311 1946 Detroit 1B 142 523 91 145 29 5 44 127 .277 1947 Pitts. 1B 125 402 71 100 13 2 25 74 .249 13 Two 1394 5193 1051 1628 379 71 331 1276 .313 tffifl 1 ft mm Kaline's No. 6 as the only Tiger uniform numerals retired by thj? club. "Jim Campbell (Tigers general manager) said he'd never do it," Gehringer said, "but I guess he broke precedent with Kaline a couple of years ago. I guess I wore No.

2 because I batted second in the order, second or third, usually. Ty Cobb never had a number. He played before we started wearing them." Cobb, greatest Tiger of all time and one of the best baseball players ever, was a player and manager of the Detroit club when Gehringer broke into the big leagues. Gehringer remembers Cobb with mixed feelings. I was a rookie, Cobb treated me like a son," Gehringer said.

"But the last year he was here (1926), he wouldn't even speak to me. Something got him off on me. It was just as well." said the break between the two might have been caused by an incident in a spring training game. Cobb, a fierce competitor, wanted players on the infield "to holler and shout like you're in the World Series. you don't really feel like it," Gehringer said.

"So I said to him, 'I'm making as much noise as And that ticked him off. I was supposed to start the season, but after that he wouldn't let me." COBB SHOULD HAVE known better. Although Gehringer speaks easily and with confidence today, he was then known as the "Silent Knight," a smooth fielder and steady hitter who kept his mouth shut and did the job consistently, much like Lou Whitaker, the current Tiger second baseman. Whitaker, not so surprisingly, is one of Gehringer's favorite players. "I don't see how you can play second base any better than he does," Gehringer said of Whitaker.

"Good ground coverage. Gets rid of the ball quick, with something on it. I don't think it's fair that he hasn't made any All-Star teams. I don't know him well, personally, but he seems kind of subdued. Doesn't show much animosity when he strikes out.

All part of the game." Does Gehringer expect Whitaktr to someday join him at Cooperstown? "If he could get his average a little bit higher he'd have a great chance for it," Gehringer said. "The voters look at statistics, average, home runs and runs batted in. But then, infielders are game-savers, not game-winners. They don't always get the credit they deserve. Newspaper people (who vote) don't always give them a tumble." They couldn't ignore Gehringer, silent as he may have been.

In 19 seasons, he averaged .320. He was selected six times by the baseball writers as the best second baseman in the game. He made the American League All-Star team six times. He won the batting title with a .371 average in 1937. "Oh, that," he said when asked about the diamond ring on his left hand.

"I got that the year the outfielders played me badly and everything seemed to fall in." Moments before, on the same hand, he'd worn his old fielding glove to pose for a picture. It was a tiny, brown, Wilson model of supple leather. "I used to keep it soft with Vaseline," Gehringer said. "And if a little came off on the ball and it helped the pitcher throw a pitch that did a little something, well Still on the subject of gloves, which in Gehringer's time were left on the field when the team went in to bat I Bold Indicates league-leading totals; asterisk Indicates tied for league lead. Bold Indicates league-leading totals; asterisk indicates tied for league lead.

mXSMWIfi 1 11,11 "St. Louis (Browns) had a little second baseman named Oscar Melillo who was scared to death of dead things," Gehringer said. "One day, somebody found a dead bird and put it in his glove. He almost went hysterical. He wasn't gonna touch it again until somebody took it out." Who might have put that dead bird in the glove of the enemy second baseman, second baseman Gehringer was asked.

"I don't know," he said. "I was minding my own business." THE CONVERSATION flowed on a clear, bright, late-spring afternoon, beginning inside the house and continuing in the backyard of his tree-filled property in the northern Detroit suburb of Beverly Hills. Gehringer lives there with his wife, Jo. They've been married since 1949. Retired 10 years ago as a business rep, Gehringer still plays golf three or four times a week.

He looks as lean and fit as he must have in his playing days. The Baseball Encyclopedia lists him as 5-1 1, 180 pounds. His eyes are deep-set, blue and piercing, the hair steel-gray and plentiful. "A little bit of a hip problem," Gehringer said. "I can't run, but I can walk." to their rage," Gehringer said.

"Where they got all the produce, I don't know. Those produce carts used to run" around in the old days. I never saw a field so cluttered The baseball commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Landis, ordered Medwick off the field and the game" continued. The next year, the Tigers of Gehringer and Greenberg returned to the Series and defeated the Chicago Cubs, with Gehringer batting .375. In 1940, the returned to the Series, but lost in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds.

THEN, WORLD WAR II broke up much of the team. Greenberg joined the Army in 1941. Gehringer joined the Navy after the 1942 season. Gehringer never played major league baseball again, but Greenberg returned in late 1945 to help the Tigers to a pennant and a World Series victory over the Cubs. "I Greenberg, Gehringer says, was a "big hitter, the one guy who could change the complexion of a game in a hurry." "A very sociable and well-liked guy," Gehringer recalled.

"A great team man. In order to let Rudy York in the lineup, he agreed to switch to left field, which I didn't think was possible. But he did it and he did it well." Glasses? "Only for reading." A native of Fowlerville, Gehringer arrived in Detroit during the Roaring Twenties, when the local automobile business boomed. He first settled with a family from Fowlerville that lived near the ball park (then called Navin Field) near Twelfth Street and Pingree. "Neighborhood's changed a lot," Gehringer said.

"It cost me $10 a week, room and board. I took the Trumbull streetcar. They ran often. Easier than driving. Cost a dime, I think." The games began at 3 p.m.

then, and Gehringer remembers the crowds as being less rowdy than today. "People dressed up as if they were going to church and theater," Gehringer recalled. "Lot of Grosse Pointe people who would really doll up. The Ford family were good fans." Still, there were moments of bad behavior, such as in the last game of the 1934 World Series, when the St. Louis Cardinals finished off the Tigers, 11-0.

That was the day Detroit fans showered fruit upon St. Louis outfielder Joe (Ducky) Medwick, who had slid hard into Tiger third baseman Marv Owen. "We were getting beat very badly and the fans gave vent Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg: Their names mean class loaded home run, rocketed through a driving rain, gave the Tigers their pennant. The next season, showing no ill effects of his long absence in the service, Hank crashed out 44 and drove Edgar Hayes, 84, born in the shadow of old Navin Field, was a sports writer and later sports editor for the Detroit Times from 1923 to 1960. The following is a reminiscence of the Tiger G-men he covered.

home 1 27 baserunners. Today such figures accompanied TV ice guys finish last" was what Leo Durocher Ho know his worth On a dull day a writer tried to stir up some excitement by suggesting that Charlie Gehringer might be a holdout. Frank Navin, owner of the Tigers then and a man noted for getting his money's worth, called In his star. Tossing a blank contract on his desk he said quietly to Charlie, "Fill It In and sign it." Charlie filled In the exact amount that Navin had budgeted for his salary. Imagine that today when a .220 hitter takes his team to arbitration over a dispute In the thousands plus first-class plane fare.

Edgar Hayes by an agent would get you your own Brinks truck on payday. Ironically, one of Greenberg's sons is an agent representing about 65 athletes in various sports. Attending a ball game today, one would be hard pressed to compare it with the era of the fabled G-men. Then, it was liked to say. But don you believe it.

After almost 60 years of following sports, I believe I can prove my case better than Durocher can his. a predominantly WASP sport no blacks and few other And the pair of Tigers Charles Leonard Gehringer and Henry Benjamin Greenberg we gather to honor Sunday serve my point. They were top performers; they are high-class individuals. Few of ththousands in the crowd will be able to say that they saw either Gehringer or Greenberg play. If they saw one, they most likely saw both; they were an entry in their time.

Fathers and grandfathers will be asked to GEHRINGER WASN'T aloof. He simply came to the park to play baseball. Four words did the work for him, "Yep," "Nope," "Hello," and "Goodby." His most colorful characteristic was his complete lack of color. He let his bat and glove speak for him always. He played in 2,323 games, all with the Tigers, without ever being thumbed by an umpire.

"I've been around baseball for two-thirds of a century and I never saw a player help his team in the shower," Charlie explained. "I never thought an umpire's ancestry had anything to do with his competence Out in the field and at the plate, Gehringer was something to behold. If they were to create a baseball robot, Charlie would be the ideal model. He did everything right the first time and with the least effort. The monicker "Mechanical Man" was well deserved.

Teammate Elden Auker said of him, "When a ball was hit in his territory, you never wondered; you knew he'd make the play." Greenberg was just the opposite. Big, strong and ungainly, Hank had nothing going for him but a booming bat and a flaming desire to succeed. In 1938, Hank took off in pursuit of baseball's most cherished record, Babe Ruth's 60 home runs. The chase lasted until the final day of the season a doubleheader in Cleveland. Hank was up against a couple of good pitchers, a curfew, a record battery of newsmen, unbelievable tension and a two-home run deficit.

It all proved too much. Darkness took control this was before night baseball during the second game. The umpire came over to Greenberg and apologized. "I don't think we can go any farther," he said. Hank nodded and said, "Thanks, I can't go any farther either." So ended the record chase.

HANK, WHO FORFEITED three seasons to military duty, was mustered out of the Army midway through the 1945 season. He reported to the Tigers and set them on a drive toward the pennant that climaxed on the last day of the season. In the last inning, Hank unleashed the most important hit of his long and brilliant career. A bases Edgar Hayes minorities. In fact there was only one player with a moustache Frenchy Bordagaray, a National League' utility player and one with glasses Specs Torpocher an infielder with the Cardinals.

Greenberg was one of the few Jewish players. Only once did his faith become a factor. In the middle of the pennant race the Tigers had an important game with the. Red Sox. It was scheduled on a Jewish high holiday day.

Should Hank play or not? He asked a prominent rabbi for advice and was told to follow his own conscience. He played and hit two home runs; the Tigers won the game, 2-0. ALMOST 40 years after they ended their active careers Greenberg and Gehringer are still alive in the hearts of the fans. The are remembered not only because they starred on the field, but because they ended a quarter of a century of frustration for the fans and in the process provided the diversion that eased the weight of the Depression that was strangling the city. They made baseball a more lively conversation subject than the hard times.

Recently I dropped into a club for dinner. The lady who served the meal was in seventh heaven. The day before she had served Gehringer, and he had honored her request for autographs for her grandsons. At 80 years of age and 40 -years beyond his playing days, that's class. Two fine gentlemen; two superb athletes.

They deserve all the praise that will be given them. slugger was the dream player for them. Bill Doyle, Tiger scout, pointed out for Greenberg the solidity of the Bronx Bombers; Gehrig at first, Babe Ruth, Sam Rice, Earl Combs and Sam Byrd in the outfield. Hank might have spent his most productive years on the bench or in the minors. Detroit was hurting for top-flight performers; the road was clear for ambitious youngsters.

Hank signed with Detroit. Gehringer's wooers were fewer, mostly colleges; he signed with the University of Michigan. But Bobby Veach, a better-than-ordinary outfielder for Detroit, went pheasant hunting one day and bagged a Tiger. Veach's hunting pal talked incessantly of this young Gehringer fellow, until Veach agreed to take him to see Tiger manager Ty Cobb. A short workout convinced Cobb that Gehringer was worth signing.

Greenberg, big, friendly and dedicated, once established, became a holler guy for the team. He was a willing conversationalist with everyone in the area, from the established stars to rookies and even young sports writers. He had time for everybody and gave special attention to young players. Many a rookie was thrilled at his interest. On the field Greenberg would make a point of associating with up-and-coming players so the fans would recognize they were a part of the team.

fill in present-day fans. The recollections will be good and positive. Greenberg's and Gehringer's heroics took place on the field. They made little news with after-hour adventures. They came to the park to play baseball.

Baseball was their job, and they endured with great skill. GEHRINGER AND Greenberg, teammates for a decade during the most productive time in Detroit baseball history with three American League pennants and one World Series victory had different backgrounds. They were opposites in style. One had a tremendous talent; the other had a great drive toward stardom. Gehringer came from Fowlerville, a town between Navin Field and Michigan State's stadium.

Greenberg was a product of the Bronx, a borough of New York City, the home of Yankee Stadium. He was ardently courted by the Yankees. A Jewish to-.