- Billy Rogell, who played shortstop with Gehringer
Detroit Tiger baseball great Charlie Gehringer was born on this day in 1903 on a farm in Fowlerville, Michigan.
He began playing baseball as a youngster, and later played for the University of Michigan. In 1923, the Detroit Tigers invited him to try out for their team, and then wanted to sign him. Gehringer agreed t sign, but only as long as the minor league team he would be assigned to wasn't too farm from his Fowlerville home.
Gehringer played second base for the Tigers for the 19 years. He was dubbed "The Mechanical Man" for his fielding skills and concentration, and as a man of few words off the field. He played in three World Series, six All-Star games, and was the 1937 American League batting champion.
In World War II, he enlisted in the Naval Air Corps. In the 1950's, he served briefly as the Tigers general manager, and then owned an auto supply business until he retired in 1974.
After his widowed mother died in 1946, Gehringer married and lived in the Detroit area. He occasionally returned to Fowlerville to visit his older half-sister, who was a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes. She would establish the Blandine House in Wisconsin for treatment of alcoholism.
Gehringer died January 21, 1993, in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, at the age of 89. His funeral was held four days later at St. Regis Catholic Church, Birmingham, Michigan. He is buried nearby at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Southfield.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw