June 02, 2008 12:10 AM
by findingDulcinea Staff
On June 2, 1941, Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig died at age 37 of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which would come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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30-Second Summary
Exactly 16 years to the day after the New York
Yankees first called on him to replace an ailing Wally Pipp at first base,
beginning a historic run of play in the Major Leagues, Lou Gehrig passed away in
his New York home.
Born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig II in 1903, Gehrig spent his life defining endurance
and hard work in sport, working his way up from a poor family that shunned
sports to become one of baseball’s most beloved and missed players.
Scouted from the fields of Colombia University, Gehrig spent the better part of
two years making the trip back and forth between the majors and minors before
finally getting the call.
Diligently playing in the shadow of kings like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio,
Gehrig established himself as the dependable and powerful batsman, breaking a
slew of records, including a still-unbroken high mark for career grand slams.
However, it was his record for consistent play that earned him the most honor
and recognition, not to mention his nickname: the Iron Horse. From the day
Gehrig first took to position at first base until the day he asked to be benched
for the sake of the team, Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games.
It was this request, after a dramatically sudden and mysterious loss of strength
from 1937 to 1938, that signaled the end for Gehrig.
Honored with an unprecedented public show of support, including an early
induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Gehrig said goodbye to his fans, two
years before passing, with a short, eloquent speech in Yankee Stadium.
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet
today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” Gehrig said.
When he passed, sportswriters across America honored Gehrig
for his abilities and for his personality. Flags waved at half-mast everywhere
in New York and at ballparks across the country. Time magazine offered a short,
sincere In Memoriam for the player who had once graced its cover.
Source: Time
Reactions: Hall of Fame induction,
retirement ceremony
The rules surrounding the amount of time that must
pass between a player’s retirement and his induction into the Baseball Hall of
Fame were put aside for Gehrig, who was admitted in 1939—the same year he asked
to benched.
Source: The Baseball Hall of Fame
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Gehrig was honored shortly after his retirement with a
ceremony held at Yankee Stadium between games at a double-header. Celebrated by
virtually everyone associated with the team, including past player Babe Ruth,
Gehrig was finally moved to speak to the more than 60,000 fans in attendance.
His short, powerful speech remains one of the most famous in American history.
Source: American Rhetoric
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Historical Context: The consecutive game
record
On May 2, 1939, Gehrig interrupted his own consecutive
game streak by asking manager Joe McCarthy to remove him from the line-up after
a stark loss of strength and power had left him unable to keep up with the
rigors of the game. Gehrig would stay on as a manager for a short time longer,
but would never play again.
Source: The Baseball Library
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Gehrig’s consecutive game record held until 1995 when the
Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. surpassed it. Ripken would go on to
play a total of 2,632 consecutive games before taking a day off toward the end
of his career.
Source: Sports Illustrated
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Related Topics: Gehrig’s first start
The story surrounding Gehrig’s first start in his
streak has become legend. The story usually told is that Gehrig replaced Wally
Pipp that day because Pipp had a headache, and never regained his starting job.
However, further investigation suggests the legend may not tell the whole story.
Source: Snopes
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Reference: Lou Gehrig’s disease
Gehrig’s condition was a rare affliction known as
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and later became known as Lou Gehrig’s disease
after its most famous victim. Painless but ultimately debilitating, the disease
attacks nerve cells in the brain and spine, resulting in a sudden loss of
strength and eventually leads to paralysis.
Source: The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association
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"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it." John Wooden
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