Gehringer and His Mother
During his Major League career, Gehringer lived with his mother in Detroit. Gehringer's father died in 1924, and Gehringer moved her from the family farm outside Fowlerville, Michigan, to Detroit. Gehringer recalled that she was a diabetic and "needed someone to look after her."
Gehringer speculated that he might have married earlier (he didn't marry until he was 42) "but I couldn't see bringing a wife into that kind of situation." Gehringer noted that his mother was a "great fan" who would either come out to the ballpark to watch her son play or listen to Harry Heilmann's radio broadcasts on the porch.
Gehringer did not marry until after his mother died, and when he did get married in 1949, he did not let anything stand in the way—not even his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gehringer missed his Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 13, 1949, because he did not want it to interfere with his wedding, which was to take place five days later.
Read more about this topic: Charlie Gehringer
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