---

In the collection is this pair of original Goudey baseball cards from the heart of Charlie Gehringer’s career. The cards, from 1933 and 1934 show the second baseman in the midst of a time when he appeared in each of Major League Baseball’s first six All Star games.

Known as “The Mechanical Man” for of his consistency — just wind him up and he’ll preform — Gehringer hit .320 over the course of his 19-year career spent with the Tigers. The Detroit second baseman had 8 seasons hitting above his lifetime mark. Gehringer was the batting champ and league MVP in 1937.

---

Major League Baseball played its first All Star Game in Chicago in 1933. It was part of the Windy City’s centennial celebration that included hosting the World’s Fair.

Baseball saw the game as a one-time event to boost the country’s morale during the Great Depression. Instead the game became an annual event pitting the best players from the American League against their National League counterparts.

Twenty of the initial game’s players ended up in the Hall of Fame. That’s not all. Both managers, five coaches, and two umpires from the game gained induction.

Charlie Gehringer hit second in the AL lineup ahead of Yankees Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In the bottom of the first inning Gehringer became the first baserunner in all star history when he drew a walk.

In the third inning Gehringer walked again. Ruth came up next and slammed the Mid Summer Classic’s first homer, a shot to deep right field. The AL beat the Senior Circuit 4-2.

In the 1973 MLB celebrated the 40th anniversary of the game. All the surviving player froms ’33 were invited to a celebration held. The living players were introduced in the festivities at the new ballpark in Kansas City that hosted the 1973 game.

Gehringer attended, catching up with fellow Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Lefty Gomez, Joe Cronin, Earl Averill among others.

In the collection is NL president Chub Feeney‘s letter inviting Hank Aaron to play in the ’73 game. Aaron played first base and batted cleanup. In the bottom of the third inning, Aaron slashed a single to left off of the Twins’ Bert Blyleven t0 drive in Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan.

The RBI was Aaron’s last one in all star competition. It put the NL up 2-1. The Senior Circuit won the game 7-1 with Blyleven taking the loss.

 

 

---

Charlie Gehringer’s father Leonard died in 1924, widowing his diabetic wife Theresa. It was the second baseman’s first year in professional baseball.

With his mother in need of care, Gehringer decided to forgo marriage until after his mother’s demise in 1949.

In the collection is this three-page handwritten letter from 1943 to radio and broadway actress Joan Vitez. In this first page Gehringer alludes to Vitez’ work as he writes, “…you should give me some advance notice when you plan to do a show…”.

Gehringer mentions his mother and his romantic life in the pages that follow.

---

Charlie Gehringer placed in the Top 10 in MVP balloting for seven straight seasons from 1932-1938. In this second page of the 1943 handwritten letter he writes about a brief leave from his time in the Navy during World War II.

Gehringer visited Hollywood during his leave, hanging out with the stars of the day. A Detroit columnist who regularly wrote about Hollywood, “…took me to lunch at R.K.O. and we hobnobbed with the glamour boys and gals, saw Eddie Cantor, Geo Murphy, and Joan Davis doing a few scenes.”

Gehringer also adds, “Would like to have gotten home, but the leave we can get wouldn’t even take care of the train trip, so I will have to pull for a short war.”

When Gehringer left the Navy in 1945 he considered a comeback at age 41 but decided against it. He finished with 2,839 hits.

 

---

In the final page of the letter Charlie Gehringer writes about the difficulty of finding romance.

“My troubles seem to be similar to the song now quite popular in regard to the gals, and I quote ‘They’re either too young or too old,’ and I might add mostly married.”

Gehringer put off marriage until after the death of his mother in 1949. When it came to to finally tie the knot, Gehringer took things seriously, even missing his own Hall of Fame induction as it interfered with his wedding scheduled for five days later.

 

---

An envelope with a postmark is often an important tool to aid in authentication of an autograph. Here the postmark reveals a mailing date of December 15, 1943 consistent with the letter’s content. It also shows that it was mailed from St. Mary’s, California just as Gehringer has written in the return address.

In the top left of the envelope Gehringer has penned his rank and his name, “Lt. CL Gehringer USNR” to provide a vintage autograph.

Throughout his life Gehringer maintained a consistent and perfectly-legible signature. This signature from 1943 looks quite similar to autographs from decades later.