Charlie Gehringer interview
Date1985 July 26
DescriptionTwo audio cassettes featuring an interview with Charlie Gehringer conducted by Rod Roberts on behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on July 26, 1985 in Cooperstown, New York.
Object numberHF-1996-0001-04
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Gehringer, Charlie, 1903-1993
Subject
Gehringer, Charlie, 1903-1993
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Library Call NumberCTA 787
Library Call NumberCTA 788
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Dimensions2 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 Side OneTrack 1 - (Squealing at beginning) Always had a reputation for not talking much, known as the "silent knight;" born on May 11, 1903 on a farm in Livingston county, southwest of Fowlerville, MI, 25 miles east of Lansing; he was second youngest of four children, two boys, and two girls; both parents came from southern Germany, father came to U.S. when he was seven, mother when she was 19; family worked 220 acres of land and had 12 to 14 cows, a lot of horses; he was the only one who went to high school, he didn't want to be a farmer; his older brother loved the farm; parents wanted him to go to school, sister started high school but didn't finish; he went a year to University of Michigan on a partial scholarship until they found out he could play baseball, he also got a letter in basketball; everybody played baseball as kids; every town had a team, there was Little League; played for Fowlerville; played with Angola, IN for $25 a game plus expenses (00:00:00 to 00:06:36) Track 2 - Detroit outfielder Bobby Veach used to come to their farm and shoot pheasant, and a friend suggested he take Gehringer to Detroit in 1924; (ty) Cobb watched him a while then went up to owner (Frank) Navin and asked him to sign a contract right away (00:06:36 to 00:07:39) Track 3 - Pitched in high school, in semi-pro played second or third; interviewer Roberts talks about Cobb; Gehringer said Cobb treated him really well, like a son, helped him out, had him use his bat, a thin bat; they got in a fight in spring training and their relationship went downhill; Cobb had no use for friends, just people who could do things for him; Cobb changed his mind about Gehringer on one Sunday when he won the game (00:07:39 to 00:11:37) Track 4 - Gehringer spent two years in Minor Leagues, London, Ontario and Toronto; did fairly well; played in a few Major League games in '24 and '25 (00:11:37 to 00:12:44) Track 5 - On Lu Blue, excellent infielder, only played with him a year, built like Joe Judge, another excellent first basemen; Topper Rigney a good shortstop; Gehringer roomed with Blue for a time; Cobb never had roommates (00:12:44 to 00:14:24) Track 6 - On Harry Heilmann, great hitter, good outfielder, first base; Heinie Manush, led the league a few times, was told what bat to use and used it well, a lot of speed; Cobb used the skinny bat, Gehringer didn't like it so he switched to a stockier bat; Cobb held his hands differently, could place the ball around the infield, didn't hit many home runs; on Manush's name; no problems being German, no German jokes (00:14:24 to 00:17:06) Track 7 - On Hooks Dauss, one of better pitchers, overall not great pitching; had better pitchers when Mickey Cochrane came on board; Dauss had great curve ball, next to Tommy Bridges; Dutch Leonard at end of his career, like Frank Tanana today, knew how to move the ball around; Gehringer still follows baseball, doesn't see as many games as he used to (00:17:06 to 00:18:39) Track 8 - On George Moriarty, base running was what he cared about; believed in stealing bases and stealing home; a great guy but not a good manager, better umpire (00:18:39 to 00:20:04) Track 9 - On Heinie Schuble at shortstop, great arm but didn't use it efficiently; owner had to move his seat because Schuble threw erratically; on Yats Wuestling at shortstop; Emil Yde, good left-handed pitcher, handsome guy, good hitter (00:20:04 to 00:21:41) Track 10 - Detroit didn't have good teams in his early years; played against the great Yankee ballplayers, and other clubs; discouraging to play against the Yankees; on Babe Ruth being a great big overgrown kid, Gehringer got to know him in Japan, Ruth wanted Gehringer to use his bat, Ruth liked to drink beer, play cards, a great performer; Ruth came up a hard route from the orphanage, learned how to behave; money didn't seem to mean much to him, might have wound up in the poorhouse after baseball without an agent; interviewer talks about Waite Hoyt stories with Ruth; Gehringer says everyone liked Ruth (00:21:41 to 00:25:36) Track 11 - On Lou Gehrig being reserved; on his honeymoon in Japan; Gehrig a hard hitter; Gehringer went to Japan once as a player, and went back in '68 as a coach of the Hanshin Tigers, second time a wonderful trip, food and accommodations were better; better baseball Japanese players in '68; funny pitching ideas; made good money on the barnstorming tour; Connie Mack was manager; made a lot of barnstorming trips in the West and through Canada one year; trips in October after World Series; played in the snow, Gehrig came out in galoshes (00:25:36 to 00:29:24) Track 12 - Worked in Hudson's Department store sporting goods department in the off season, had moved from the farm into Detroit with his mother; Gehringer not being a hunter (00:29:24 to 00:30:35) Cassette 1 Side Two Track 1 - Intv: On Mickey Cochrane adding spark to Detroit, he and (Bill) Dickey being best catchers in the League; Cochrane a good manager, a tough loser; player-managers are good; Cochrane didn't make as many mistakes when he was a player-manager as when he was solely a manager; on Pete Rose doing a great job; Lou Boudreau was a good performer (00:00:00 to 00:02:00) Track 2 - Won with Cochrane in '34 and '35; split the World Series; Gehringer had a long career for a ballplayer; played full time, different from today when they take more time off; didn't have as many players; in those days didn't have a lot of relief pitchers; some good ones like (?) Murphy (00:02:00 to 00:04:08) Track 3 - Biggest change in baseball is money; colored players have greater speed and agility, have added fielding to the game, not as much hitting; since the League has expanded, here are players that probably don't belong, but top players are equally as good as in the past; AstroTurf, an entirely different ball game, Interviewer Roberts talking about third base playing changes (00:04:08 to 00:06:12) Track 4 - On '34 ball club, good infield, Billy Rogell at shortstop, Marv Owen at third; good outfielders, Goose Goslin, Jo-Jo White, Pete Fox, Gee Walker; good pitching, with Schoolboy Rowe and Tommy Bridges; whole club hit .300 except Rogell and Fox; one year infield drove in 100 runs, pretty rare (00:06:12 to 00:07:04) Track 5 - On Jo-Jo White, good outfielder, good hitter; Goslin a couple of good years, drove in the winning run in '35, hurt his arm in Washington; Gehringer had a good Series; should have beat them in sixth game but had a bad call at third base; man on first and third, someone bunted, play was made at third, Cochrane was running to third, umpire called him out, but had a photo of the ball being far out and Cochrane on the bag; Paul Dean was pitching; beat Dizzy in St. Louis, but trouble with him in Detroit; in '35 got the biggest payoff of any winner ever got $6,900, but a disappointment to lose the Series, in spite of having a good club; possibly taking the Series to seven games, play until Christmas; all sports go on too long (00:07:04 to 00:11:15) Track 6 - On Hank Greenberg, getting long hits, great team man, likable guy, moved from first base to outfield; like great Reggie Jackson, gets most of the headlines; Greenberg was serious, worked hard; nobody bothered him for being Jewish; fans are meaner today than in the past; watching a game in Chicago and Kirk Gibson nearly walked off the field because someone threw a knife at him; fans were different, should have seen the fan reaction when they won the Series; on soccer riots in England; too much liquor in ballparks; switching to low-alcohol beer; fans are much more vocal, don't dress well to come to a ball game (00:11:15 to 00:15:11) Track 7 - On baseball riots, the time Bill Veeck had a double header in Chicago and they tore up the field; had to give the Tigers a second game; on being born in 1903; Gehringer never personally in any riots; on watching what you say to the fans; bigger stadiums today; old stadiums were smaller; see the ball game better on television (00:15:11 to 00:17:40) Track 8 - Great thrill to win the World Series in '35; Gehringer hit .321 in both World Series (00:17:40 to 00:18:15) Track 9 - On being nicknamed the "Mechanical Man" and the "Robot;" (Lefty?) Gomez gave him Mechanical Man nickname, keeps you laughing, could throw the ball; toughest pitcher was (Lefty) Grove, followed by (Bill) Feller; Grove could throw very hard; came in at tail end of Walter Johnson's career, threw one curve and hit Gehringer in the stomach; Grove faster than Feller, Feller had a better curve; first time he hit against Grove, got hit on the elbow, had to take off for three days (00:18:15 to 00:21:51) Track 10 - On having few injuries, pulled a large groin muscle once; played badminton and squash in off season to keep in shape; today people can overdo it; worried about (?) Parrish overdoing it; never did any jogging (00:21:51 to 00:24:06) Track 11 - More on Grove, Feller, Johnson as pitchers; Gomez a good pitcher; not bothered by left-handed pitchers; more switch-hitters today (00:24:06 to 00:25:49) Track 12 - On playing from 1924 to 1942; playing in the Navy during WWII; figured it was time to stop; he had 2,800-2,900 hits, never thought about getting to 3,000 (00:25:59 to 00:27:00) Track 13 - On greatest day, his hometown fans from Fowlerville gave him a set of golf clubs, but the clubs were right-handed and he hit left-handed, but that day was a super day, he had four hits, a home run off George Pipgras over the fence; may have stole home, still have the golf clubs; now has a few sets, got a set for working with the infielders one year (tape runs out) (00:27:00 to 00:28:24) Cassette 2 Side One Track 1 - On fielding plays today being better than in the old days, bigger gloves today; Gehringer dove for a ball once or twice; nobody seemed to think fielding was that important; hitting was the most importance (00:00:00 to 00:02:06) Track 2 - Pitching makes the difference between winners and losers; we had so much talent in hitting but didn't have pitching; Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey best catchers; Cochrane could hit the ball better to all fields; Dickey a pull hitter with more power; Cochrane good speed; Dickey didn't run that well; Cochrane was never tough to play for, never made an issue of anything; he hated to lose, if he lost on an error, would stare at you and you knew you blew it; best manager; Bucky Harris was great, easy-going and knew his job; Connie Mack was one of a kind; Casey Stengel was a good manager and had good luck; Mack seemed like he belonged any place but in a ball field; in Japan, Mack was calm and together, placed every outfielder on every pitch, so involved; he had bad luck, couldn't afford the big guys so he had to let them go; financial problems; good thing Social Security came along; life term of a baseball player is short and doesn't set you up for what you can do afterwards; interviewer Roberts talks about Stan Coveleski, Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, Satchel Paige; Gehringer said Coveleski never complained about struggling (00:02:06 to 00:09:36) Track 3 - On barnstorming tours with black ball players, Paige pitching, had great control, different pitches; black pitchers don't seem to have the same arm problems as white pitchers; (?) Hernandez believes you should throw every day (00:09:36 to 00:11:35) Track 4 - Good black players, Mule Suttles on first bat, 50-ounce bat hit the ball farther; (Earl?) Whitehill left-handed pitcher couldn't get Suttles out; Curt Brown was there, (Lefty) Gomez, Moe Berg was catcher, Frankie Hayes, Jimmie Foxx and (Earl?) Averill, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, great hitters on the team; Foxx could hit the farthest; Foxx had a sad finish, wouldn't let people buy anything, wound up bad off because he didn't hold onto his money; Early Wynn trying to get older players into the players' pension plan; like the movie industry, have short careers, need to put money away; players not worth the salaries today, loafing players deserve to get booed (00:11:35 to 00:17:00) Track 5 - On baseball in the Navy, had a good ball club, (?) Williams and (?) Kennedy, played the navy stations, the Marines, the Army; Gehringer was at the age to be drafted, was single, draft went to 40 or 45, so he enlisted; played ball the whole time he was in the service; in California, went to pre-flight school, had to keep the kids busy and good shape; had a baseball team and taught soccer; no playoffs in the service, just acclaim if you won; today have teams in the service (00:17:00 to 00:20:40) Track 6 - Became general manager in Detroit in '51 and '52, after being away from baseball for 10 years, didn't know who was on the team, finished last and had a terrible pitching staff; (Walter)Briggs took over from (Frank) Navin and asked Gehringer to be manager; he died the second year so Gehringer got out in a hurry, turned over the job to Muddy Ruel; Rick Ferrell caught all the knuckleballers (00:20:40 to 00:22:49) Track 7 - On being close to Detroit management, going to 8-12 ball games; saw the playoffs, but got double pneumonia; watch a lot of ball games on television (00:22:49 to 00:24:11) Track 8 - On playing whole career for one club; never wanted to be traded, some rumors at the end of his career about possibly being traded to Cleveland, but never happened; today, people ask to be traded; money makes a difference in trades; players used to have a one-year contract, no multi-year contracts; had to perform well to get a good contract (00:24:11 to 00:26:51) Track 9 - Wanted to be a ballplayer since he was a kid; had a scrapbook of Tigers players as a kid; sad that a lot of kids play the game and so few can master it; he was sure he could play professionally after playing amateur ball; never really considered he would be in the Hall of Fame, never gave it a thought (siren in the background;) interviewer Roberts talking about Red Ruffing; on Cooperstown being crowded, had to get hotel rooms (tape runs out) (00:26:51 to 00:30:39) Cassette 2 Side TwoTrack 1 - On being quiet and shy; mother wanted him to be a priest but could never get up and speak; parents were very religious; half-sister was a nun; mother was against him playing baseball, his father wanted him to play; she changed her mind after he started playing professionally (00:00:00 to 00:01:29) Track 2 - Didn't play a lot in the off-season; did more off-season play when he was in the Minor League; never played Sunday ball; always had a place to play; today, not as many small leagues, no place for kids to learn to play; but kids have a lot of things to do and they have cars; a different world; college producing most of athletes today; people used to play at 40-50 years old; Whitey Wiltse just passed away, used to come to Cooperstown every year, had a high regard for Connie Mack; owners Mack and others, including (Frank) Navin didn't have a lot of money, Navin had to borrow money for spring training; today cities own the clubs; Gehringer belonged to a group that wanted to buy the Tigers after (Walter) Briggs died, wanted to pay $3.5 million; put it out to bid, (Bill) Veeck bid $6.5 million but didn't get it; went to the Fetzer group; now going $40-$50 million; radio stations going for huge sums; CBS sale (00:01:29 to 00:07:55) Track 3 - On enjoying baseball as a career; having a good time, no regrets; baseball career very simple and easy; keep proving yourself every week; had good substitutes hanging around looking to take your job; he got his chance when Frank O'Rourke got the measles, and he played well, so he kept the job; breaks come and go (00:07:55 to 00:10:02) Track 4 - On being a left-handed batter; threw right-handed; seemed natural to him; write right-handed, do most things right-handed; kick footballs with right foot, but golf, played left-handed, then switched to right-handed and played better; reading about kid that can pitch right- or left-handed; another kid who lost an arm, pitching really hard, but not able to field; not many handicapped players, Pete Gray managed to play, and had a great batting average; Lou Brissie played with a metal leg brace after WWII; more on playing golf left- and right-handed; plays golf three-four days a week, shot his age last week; bowled for a few years in a league, but hurt his arm so quit bowling (00:10:02 to 00:17:04) Track 5 - On injuries being rare, and strange treatments, people traveling to doctors for arms; (Wilcox) having arm rebuilt; no team doctors in the old days, no drug tests; beer was the worst you could take; Gehringer not much of a drinker, few beers after the game, never drank until 21; Ty Cobb gave him his first moonshine, it was so strong he had to lean against a tree; never smoked and glad he didn't (00:17:04 to 00:19:47) Track 6 - On younger sister still living, live in same area near Detroit; all his relatives followed his games; his mother and sister were in the dugout, some drunk was heckling Gehringer and his mother gave it right back to him; on pronouncing his name with a hard second "G;" (tape runs out) (00:19:47 to 00:22:11)" Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. 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