the top vote getters in the MVP race, again losing to one of his own teammates, Hank Greenberg. Gehringer also continued his consistent hitting into the 1935 World Series, where he played all six games, and hit .375 with a .423 on-base percentage, a .500 slugging percentage and 4 RBI. 1934 tour of Japan After the 1934 season, Gehringer was part of the Major League All Star tour of Japan. The American team included Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx. They played 18 games against a Japanese All Star Team. The American team won all 18 games by a combined score of 189–39, but on November 20, 1934, 17-year-old Eiji Sawamura pitched seven shutout innings and had consecutive strikeouts of Gehringer, Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx. Gehringer recalled that, during batting practice, the Japanese fans would fill the 60,000 seat ballpark for every game. (Anthony Connor, "Voices from Cooperstown", p. 240.) Life in the off-season During the off-season, Gehringer worked as a sales clerk in the downtown Detroit Hudson's. He also spent many years barnstorming with other Major League players. One year, he traveled with a touring group from the Negro leagues, including Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Judy Johnson, and Mule Suttles. Gehringer recalled that trying to hit Paige's fastball and hesitation pitch was "no fun." Paige said that Gehringer was the best white hitter he ever pitched against. MVP award and batting crown Although the 1936 Tigers finished in second place, 19½ games behind the Yankees, the 33-year-old Gehringer may have had his best season. He led the American League in assists, double plays, and fielding percentage by a second baseman. And he had career-bests in hits (227) slugging percentage (.555), runs (144), extra base hits (87), total bases (356) and runs created (152). He also had a career-low 13 strikeouts in 641 at-bats during the 1936 season. That equates to a strikeout every 49.3 times at bat. He finished 4th in the MVP voting, as Lou Gehrig became the only non-Tiger to win the MVP award from 1934 to 1937. Gehringer finally secured his own American League Most Valuable Player trophy, and a batting crown, in 1937. Gehringer won the batting championship with a career-high .371 batting average and placed 2nd in on-base percentage with another career-high .458. The 1937 season also saw Gehringer collect 209 hits (his 7th 200 hit season) and score 133 runs (one