Charlie Gehringer
Charlie Gehringer was nicknamed the Mechanical Man, partly due to his quiet demeanor, and partly due to his remarkable consistency over a long period of time. His manager/teammate Mickey Cochrane joked, "Charlie says 'hello' on Opening Day, 'goodbye' on Closing Day, and in between hits .350"
He made brief appearances with the Tigers in 1924 and 1925, and finally won the starting second base job in 1926, which he wouldn't give up for 15 years. That would be one of only 3 full seasons in his career where he wouldn't hit .300.
He really broke out in 1929, when he led the league in several offensive categories, including runs, hits, doubles, triples, and stolen bases. Then in 1932, he began a string of 7 consecutive seasons finishing among the top 10 in MVP voting.
He had what was probably his best season in 1934, leading the league with 214 hits and 135 runs to go along with 127 RBI and a .356 average. He lost out on the MVP vote to teammate Mickey Cochrane, and the Tigers reached the World Series, where Gehringer batted .379, but the Tigers lost to the Cardinals in 7 games.
In 1935 he was nearly as good, reaching 200 hits for the third year in a row, and leading the Tigers back to the World Series, where they beat the Cubs in 6 games behind Gehringer's .375 average and 4 RBI.
He was still great for a couple more years, reaching career highs of 144 runs, 227 hits, and 60 doubles in 1936, then winning the MVP in 1937 after winning the batting title with a .371 average while surpassing 200 hits for the 5th year in a row. His stats started to drop off after that, but he was still a good player for a couple more years before being benched.
Gehringer finished his career with a .320 average, and hit over .300 in 13 seasons. He also reached 200 hits and 40 doubles 7 times each, and finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting 7 times in a row. He was great in his first two World Series appearances, and was the biggest reason for their win in 1935, and though his name isn't well-known today, he cannot be left off the list of the greatest players of all time.
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