Lou Gehrig

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Template:Infobox MLB retired Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig (June 19 1903 – June 2 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig[1], was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a slugger and the longevity of his consecutive games played record, which stood for more than a half-century, and the pathos of his tearful farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease. Popularly called "The Iron Horse" for his durability, Gehrig set several Major League records.[1] His record for most career grand slam home runs (23) still stands today.[2] Gehrig was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball Writers' Association.[3] Gehrig was the leading vote-getter on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fans in 1999.[4]

A native of New York City, he played for the New York Yankees until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly referred to in the United States as Lou Gehrig's Disease.[5] Over a 15-season span between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games. The streak ended when Gehrig became disabled with the fatal neuromuscular disease that claimed his life two years later. His streak, long believed to be one of baseball's few unbreakable records, stood for 56 years until finally broken by Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6, 1995.

Gehrig accumulated 1,995 RBIs in seventeen seasons with a lifetime batting average of .340, a lifetime on-base percentage of .447, and a lifetime slugging percentage of .632. A seven-time All-Star (the first All-Star game was not until 1933; he did not play in the 1939 game, retiring a week before it was held — at Yankee Stadium[6]), he won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936 and was a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.[7]

Early life

Gehrig was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, weighing almost 14 pounds (6.4 kg) at birth, the son of poor German immigrants Heinrich Gehrig and Christina Fack.[7] His father was a sheet metal worker by trade, but frequently unemployed due to ill health, so his mother was the breadwinner and disciplinarian.[8] Both parents considered baseball to be a schoolyard game; his domineering mother steered young Lou toward a career in business.[8]

Lou Gehrig went to PS 132 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and then to Commerce High School, graduating in 1921.[9][10] Gehrig attended Columbia University (although he did not graduate), where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[11] He could not, at first, play intercollegiate baseball for the Lions because he played baseball for a summer professional league during his freshman year.[11] At the time, he was unaware that doing so jeopardized his eligibility to play any collegiate sport. Gehrig was ruled eligible to play on the Lions' football team and was a standout fullback. He later gained baseball eligibility and joined the Lions on that squad as well.

Gehrig first garnered national attention for his baseball ability while playing in a game at Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field) on June 26, 1920. Gehrig's New York School of Commerce team was playing a team from Chicago's Lane Tech High School. With his team winning 8-6 in the eighth inning, Gehrig hit a grand slam completely out of the Major League ballpark, an unheard-of feat for a 17-year old high school boy.[12]

Gehrig on the Columbia University baseball team

On April 18, 1923, when Yankee Stadium opened for the first time, Babe Ruth christened the new stadium with a home run. On the same afternoon at Columbia, pitcher Gehrig struck out seventeen Williams batters for a team record. However, Columbia lost the game. Only a handful of collegians were at South Field that day, but more significant was the presence of Yankee scout Paul Krichell, who had been trailing Gehrig for some time. However, it was not Gehrig’s pitching that particularly impressed him. Instead, it was Gehrig’s powerful left-handed hitting. During the time Krichell had been watching Gehrig, Gehrig had hit some of the longest home runs ever seen on various Eastern campuses, including a 450-foot (137 m) blast on April 28 at Columbia's South Field which landed at 116th Street and Broadway, with Krichell watching.[13] Within two months Gehrig had signed his name to a Yankee contract.[11]

Major League Baseball career

Gehrig joined the Yankees midway through the 1923 season and made his debut on June 15 1923, as a pinch hitter. In his first two seasons, Gehrig saw limited playing time, mostly as a pinch hitter — he played in only 23 games and was not on the Yankees' 1923 World Series roster. In 1925, he batted 437 times for a very respectable .295 batting average with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs.[14]

File:Ruth Gehrig WPt.jpg
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in exhibition game at West Point, NY (May 6, 1927)

Gehrig's breakout season came in 1926. He batted .313 with 47 doubles, an American League leading 20 triples, 16 home runs, and 112 RBIs.[14] In the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Gehrig hit .348 with two doubles and 4 RBIs. The Cardinals won a seven-game series, winning four games to three.[15]

In 1927, Gehrig put up one of the greatest seasons by any batter in history. That year, Gehrig hit .373, with 218 hits: 52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 home runs, 175 runs batted in, and a .765 slugging percentageCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Gehrig established himself as a bona fide star in his own right despite playing in the shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career. Gehrig became one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. Gehrig had 509 RBIs during a three-season stretch (1930-32). Only two other players, Jimmie Foxx with 507 and Hank Greenberg with 503, have surpassed 500 RBIs in any three seasons; their totals were non-consecutive. (Babe Ruth had 498.)[16] Gehrig had six seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), plus a seventh season at .349. He had 8 seasons with 150 or more RBIs, 11 seasons with over 100 walks, 8 seasons with 200 or more hits, and 5 seasons with more than 40 home runs.[17] Gehrig led the American League in runs scored 4 times, home runs 3 times, and RBIs 5 times. His 184 RBIs in 1931 is still an American League record (and second all-time to Hack Wilson's 191 RBIs in 1930). Three of the top six RBI seasons in baseball history were Gehrig's. Lou Gehrig also holds the baseball record for most seasons with 400 total bases or more, accomplishing this feat five times in his career.[17]

During the 10 seasons (1925-1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were both Yankees and played a majority of games, Gehrig only had more home runs in 1934, when he hit 49 compared to Ruth’s 22. (Ruth played 125 games that year.) They tied at 46 in 1931. Ruth had 424 home runs compared to Gehrig’s 347. Gehrig had more RBIs in 7 years (1925, 1927, 1930-1934) and they tied in 1928. Ruth had 1,316 RBIs compared to Gehrig’s 1,436. Gehrig had more hits in 8 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930-34). Gehrig had a higher slugging percentage in 2 years (1933-34). And Gehrig had a higher batting average in 7 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930, 1932-34). For that span, Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth.[18]

File:Gehrig time.jpg
Gehrig and Carl Hubbell on 1936 Time Magazine cover

On June 3, 1932, Gehrig hit four home runs in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics and narrowly missed another one when he hit a deep fly ball to center field and center fielder Al Simmons made an amazing leaping catch to get him out. After the game, Manager Joe McCarthy told him, "Well, Lou, nobody can take today away from you..." However, on that same day, John McGraw chose to announce his retirement after 30 years of managing the New York Giants, and so McGraw, not Gehrig, got the headlines in the sports sections the next day and Gehrig, as usual, had second-place treatment.[19]

In September 1933, Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell, the daughter of Chicago Parks Commissioner Frank Twitchell.[14]

In a 1936 World Series cover story about Lou Gehrig and Carl Hubbell, Time magazine proclaimed Gehrig "the game's No. 1 batsman", who "takes boyish pride in banging a baseball as far, and running around the bases as quickly, as possible".[20]

2,130 consecutive games

On June 1 1925, Gehrig was sent in to pinch hit for light-hitting shortstop Paul "Pee Wee" Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp was in a slump, as were the Yankees as a team, so Huggins made several lineup changes to boost their performance. Fourteen years later, Gehrig had played 2,130 consecutive games. In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch hitting appearances and fortuitous timing; in others, the streak continued despite injuries. Late in life, X-rays disclosed that Gehrig had sustained several fractures during his playing career.[21] For example:

  • On April 23 1933, Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehall beaned Gehrig, knocking him nearly unconscious. Still, Gehrig recovered and was not removed from the game.
  • On June 14 1933, Gehrig was ejected from a game, along with manager Joe McCarthy, but he had already been at bat, so he got credit for playing the game.
  • On July 13 1934, Gehrig suffered a "lumbago attack" and had to be assisted off the field. In the next day's away game, he was listed in the lineup as "shortstop", batting lead-off. In his first and only plate appearance, he singled and was promptly replaced by a pinch runner to rest his throbbing back, never actually taking the field. A&E's Biography speculated that this illness, which he also described as "a cold in his back", might have been the first symptom of his debilitating disease.[22]

Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played stood until September 6, 1995, when Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game to establish a new record.[23]

23 Career Grand Slams

Illness

File:Lou Gehrig plaque.jpg
Plaque in St. Petersburg, Fla., where Gehrig collapsed in 1939 during spring training

At the midpoint of the 1938 season, Gehrig's performance began to diminish. At the end of that season, he said, "I tired mid season. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again." Although his final 1938 stats were respectable (.295 batting average, 114 RBIs, 170 hits, .523 slugging percentage, 758 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs), it was a dramatic drop from his 1937 season (when he batted .351 and slugged .643). In the 1938 post-season his batting average was .286 and all four of his hits were singles (for an unusually low .286 slugging percentage).[24]

When the Yankees began their 1939 spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida, it was obvious that Gehrig no longer possessed his once-formidable power. Even Gehrig's base running was affected, and at one point he collapsed at Al Lang Field, the Yankees' spring training park at the time in St. Petersburg.[25] By the end of spring training, Gehrig had not hit even one home run.[26]Throughout his career, Gehrig was considered an excellent runner on the basepaths, but as the 1939 season got underway, his coordination and speed had deteriorated significantly.[27]

By the end of April, his statistics were the worst of his career, with just 1 RBI and a .143 batting average. Fans and the press openly speculated on Gehrig's abrupt decline. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, said in one article:

I think there is something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don't know what it is, but I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers 'go' overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It's something deeper than that in this case, though. I have watched him very closely and this is what I have seen: I have seen him time a ball perfectly, swing on it as hard as he can, meet it squarely — and drive a soft, looping fly over the infield. In other words, for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn't there... He is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn't going anywhere.[28]

He was indeed meeting the ball, with only one strikeout in 28 at-bats. But Joe McCarthy found himself resisting pressure from Yankee management to switch Gehrig to a part-time role. Things came to a head when Gehrig had to struggle to make a routine put-out at first base. The pitcher, Johnny Murphy, had to wait for Gehrig to drag himself over to the bag so he could catch Murphy's throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou."[28]

On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the weak Washington Senators. Gehrig had just played his 2,130th consecutive Major League game.[18]

On May 2, the next game after a day off, Gehrig approached McCarthy before the game in Detroit against the Tigers and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe", telling the Yankees' skipper that he was doing so "for the good of the team".[29] McCarthy acquiesced and put Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig wanted to play again, the position was his. Gehrig himself took the lineup card out to the shocked umpires before the game, ending the 14-year stamina streak. Before the game began, the Briggs Stadium announcer told the fans, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time Lou Gehrig's name will not appear on the Yankee lineup in 2,130 consecutive games." The Detroit Tigers fans gave Gehrig a standing ovation while he sat on the bench with tears in his eyes.[24] Gehrig stayed with the Yankees as team captain for a few more weeks, but he never played baseball again.[24]

Diagnosis

As Lou Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, Eleanor called the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her call was transferred to Dr. Charles William Mayo, who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Dr. Mayo told Eleanor to bring Gehrig as soon as possible.[24]

Eleanor and Gehrig flew to Rochester from Chicago, where the Yankees were playing at the time, arriving at the Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. After six days of extensive testing at Mayo Clinic, the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was confirmed on June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday.[30] The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, and a life expectancy of fewer than three years, although there would be no impairment of mental functions. Eleanor Gehrig was told that the cause of ALS was unknown but it was painless, non-contagious and cruel — the central nervous system is destroyed but the mind remains fully aware to the end.[31][32]

Gehrig often wrote letters to Eleanor, and in one such note written shortly afterwards, said (in part):

The bad news is lateral sclerosis, in our language chronic infantile paralysis. There isn't any cure... there are very few of these cases. It is probably caused by some germ...Never heard of transmitting it to mates... There is a 50-50 chance of keeping me as I am. I may need a cane in 10 or 15 years. Playing is out of the question...[33]

Following Gehrig's visit to the Mayo Clinic, he briefly rejoined the Yankees in Washington, DC. As his train pulled into Union Station, he was greeted by a group of Boy Scouts, happily waving and wishing him luck. Gehrig waved back, but he leaned forward to his companion, a reporter, and said, "They're wishing me luck — and I'm dying."[30]

"The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"

The Yankee duo reunited – Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth (r) on Lou Gehrig Day (July 4 1939).

On June 21, the New York Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement and proclaimed July 4, 1939, "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" at Yankee Stadium. Between games of the Independence Day doubleheader against the Washington Senators, the poignant ceremonies were held on the diamond. In its coverage the following day, The New York Times said it was "Perhaps as colorful and dramatic a pageant as ever was enacted on a baseball field [as] 61,808 fans thundered a hail and farewell".[34] Dignitaries extolled the dying slugger and the members of the 1927 Yankees World Championship team, known as "Murderer's Row", attended the ceremonies. New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia called Gehrig "the greatest prototype of good sportsmanship and citizenship" and Postmaster General James Farley concluded his speech by predicting, "For generations to come, boys who play baseball will point with pride to your record."[34]

Yankees Manager Joe McCarthy, struggling to control his emotions, then spoke of Lou Gehrig, with whom there was a close, almost father and son-like bond. After describing Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman, and citizen that baseball has ever known", McCarthy could stand it no longer. Turning tearfully to Gehrig, the manager said, "Lou, what else can I say except that it was a sad day in the life of everybody who knew you when you came into my hotel room that day in Detroit and told me you were quitting as a ballplayer because you felt yourself a hindrance to the team. My God, man, you were never that."[35]

The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number "4", making him the first player in Major League Baseball history to be accorded that honor.[36] Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques, and trophies. Some came from VIPs; others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. Footage of the ceremonies shows Gehrig being handed various gifts, and immediately setting them down on the ground, because he no longer had the arm strength to hold them.[30] The Yankees gave him a silver trophy with their signatures engraved on it. Inscribed on the front was a special poem written by The New York Times writer John Kieran.[37] The trophy cost only about $5, but it became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions. [38] It is currently on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After the presentations and remarks by Babe Ruth, Gehrig addressed the crowd:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. "Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky. "When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift — that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body — it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that's the finest I know. "So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you."

— Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939 [39]

The crowd stood and applauded for almost two minutes. Gehrig was visibly shaken as he stepped away from the microphone, and wiped the tears away from his face with his handkerchief.[38] Babe Ruth came over and hugged him as a band played "I Love You Truly" and the crowd chanted "We love you, Lou". The New York Times account the following day called it "one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field", that made even hard-boiled reporters "swallow hard".[34]

In December 1939, Lou Gehrig was elected unanimously to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in a special election by the Baseball Writers Association, waiving the waiting period normally required after a ballplayer's retirement.[40] At age 36, he was the youngest player to be so honored.[41]

Final years

"Don't think I am depressed or pessimistic about my condition at present," Lou Gehrig wrote following his retirement from baseball. Struggling against his ever-worsening physical condition, he added, "I intend to hold on as long as possible and then if the inevitable comes, I will accept it philosophically and hope for the best. That's all we can do."[30]

Gehrig's retired number in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.

In October 1939, he accepted Mayor LaGuardia's appointment to a ten-year term as a New York City Parole Commissioner and was sworn into office on January 2, 1940.[42] The Parole Commission commended the ex-ballplayer for his "firm belief in parole, properly administered", stating that Gehrig "indicated he accepted the parole post because it represented an opportunity for public service. He had rejected other job offers – including lucrative speaking and guest appearance opportunities – worth far more financially than the $5,700 a year commissionership." Gehrig visited New York City's correctional facilities, but insisted that they not be covered by news media.[43] Gehrig, as always, quietly and efficiently performed his duties. He was often helped by his wife Eleanor, who would guide his hand when he had to sign official documents. About a month before his death, when Gehrig reached the point where his deteriorating physical condition made it impossible for him to continue in the job, he quietly resigned.[44]

On June 2, 1941, at 10:10 p.m., sixteen years to the day after he replaced Wally Pipp at first base, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue, in the Fieldston section of the Bronx, New York.[45][46]

Upon hearing the news, Babe Ruth and his wife Claire went to the Gehrig's house to console Eleanor. Mayor LaGuardia ordered flags in New York to be flown at half-staff, and Major League ballparks around the nation did likewise.[47]

Following the funeral at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale, Gehrig's remains were cremated and interred on June 4 at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Lou Gehrig and Ed Barrow are both interred in the same section of Kensico Cemetery, which is next door to Gate of Heaven Cemetery, where the graves of Babe Ruth and Billy Martin are located.[48]

Lou Gehrig's headstone in Kensico Cemetery (the year of his birth was inscribed erroneously as 1905)

Eleanor Gehrig never remarried following her husband's passing, dedicating the rest of her life to supporting ALS research.[12] She died on March 6, 1984, on her 80th birthday. They had no children.

The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig in center field at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941, the shrine lauding him as, "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time." Gehrig's monument joined the one placed there in 1932 to Miller Huggins, which would eventually be followed by Babe Ruth's in 1949.[18]

Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan, 1994 Second Avenue (near E. 103rd Street), is memorialized with a plaque marking the site. Another early residence on E. 94th Street (near Second Avenue) is noted with a plaque. The Gehrigs' white house at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, where Lou Gehrig died, still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque.[14]

Accomplishments: records, awards, and distinctions

Sixty years after his farewell to baseball, Gehrig received the most votes of any baseball player on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fans in 1999.[4]

Major League Baseball (MLB) Records[49]
Accomplishment Record
Grand Slams 23
Runs batted in (RBI) by a First Baseman 1,995
Consecutive seasons, 120+ RBIs 8 (1927–1934)
Runs scored by a first baseman 1,888
Highest on-base percentage by a first baseman .447
Most bases on balls by a first baseman 1,508
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman .632
Most extra base hits by a first baseman 1190
Major League Baseball (MLB) Single Season Records[49]
Accomplishment Record
Runs-batted-in by a first baseman 184 (1931)
Runs scored by a first baseman 167 (1936)
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman .765 (1927)
Extra Base Hits, by a first baseman 117 (1927)
Most total bases by a first baseman 447 (1927
Major League Baseball (MLB) Single Game Records[49]
Accomplishment Record
Home Runs 4[50]
Major League Baseball (MLB) Single Game Records[49]
Award Year
Inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame 1939
American League MVP 1927, 1936 (runner-up in 1931 and 1932)
Named to seven All-Star teams (1933–1939); played in six (retired before 1939 All-Star Game)
Named starting first baseman on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team[4] 1999
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award Unavailable[51]

Other distinctions

Other distinctions[49]
Accomplishment Year
Triple Crown (.363 BA, 49 HR, 165 RBI) 1934
Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons 1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936
With Stan Musial, one of two players to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 400 home runs in a career –
One of only six players (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams were the others) to end their career with a minimum .320 batting average, 350 home runs, and 1,500 RBI. –
Only player to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season non-consecutively 1927, 1930, 1934
Scored game-winning run in 8 World Series games –
First athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties –
First baseball player to have his uniform number retired July 4, 1939 farewell speech was voted by fans as the fifth greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002 July 4, 1939
A Lou Gehrig 25-cent USA Postage Stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service
(Scott number 2417) 		1989
Gehrig was mentioned in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:
Lineup for Yesterday

G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

— Ogden Nash, Sport magazine (January 1949)[52]

 File:Lou Gehrig stamp.png

Film and other media

Lou Gehrig starred in the 1938 20th Century Fox movie Rawhide playing himself in his only feature film appearance.[53] In 2006, researchers presented a paper to the American Academy of Neurology, reporting on an analysis of Rawhide and photographs of Lou Gehrig from the 1937–1939 period, to ascertain when Gehrig began to show visible symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. They concluded that while atrophy of hand muscles could be detected in 1939 photographs of Gehrig, no such abnormality was visible at the time Rawhide was made in January 1938. "Examination of Rawhide showed that Gehrig functioned normally in January 1938", the report concluded.[54]

In 1942, the life of Lou Gehrig was immortalized in the movie The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 Academy Award nominations and won in one category, Film Editing. Real-life Yankees Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig and Bill Dickey (then still an active player) played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern.

Later, in 1978, a TV movie, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story was released, starring Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann as Eleanor and Lou Gehrig, respectively. It was based on the 1976 autobiography My Luke and I, written by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso.

In an episode of the PBS series Jean Shepherd's America, the Chicago-born storyteller told of how he and his father (Jean Shepherd, Sr.) would watch Chicago White Sox games from the right field upper deck at Comiskey Park in the 1930s. On one occasion, the Sox were playing the Yankees, and Shepherd Sr. had been taunting Gehrig, yelling at him all day. In the top of the ninth, with Sox icon Ted Lyons holding a slim lead, Gehrig came up with a man on base, and Jean Jr.'s "old man" yelled in a voice that echoed around the ballpark, "Hit one up here, ya bum! I dare ya!" Gehrig did exactly that, hitting a screaming liner, practically into the senior Shepherd's lap, for the eventual game-winning home run. Shepherd's father was booed mercilessly, and he never again took junior Jean to a game. He apparently told this story originally when Gehrig's widow was in the audience at a speaking engagement.[55]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lou Gehrig.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Lou Gehrig.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Lou Gehrig". Britannica Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "Lou Gehrig Grand Slams". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Frank Graham, Lou Gehrig: A Quiet Hero. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969.
  4. ^ a b c "All-Century Team final voting". ESPN. 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  5. ^ "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)". Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ "All-Star Game History". Baseball Almanac. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  7. ^ a b "White House Dream Team: Lou Gehrig". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ a b Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, pp. 30–31.
  9. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, p. 44.
  10. ^ "P.S. 132 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE". NYC Department of Education. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ a b c Robinson, Ray. "Lou Gehrig: Columbia Legend and American Hero". Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ a b William Kashatus, Lou Gehrig: A Biography. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.
  13. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, pp. 58–59.
  14. ^ a b c d "Lou Gehrig: BIOGRAPHY". lougehrig.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Kashatus, William (2004). Lou Gehrig: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters) (Hardcover). Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313328668. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ "MVP BAseball Players". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ a b Newman, Mark. "Gehrig's shining legacy of courage". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ a b c "Lou Gehrig". The Idea Logical Company, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ Baseball's Unforgettable Games (1960, by Joe Reichler and Ben Olan
  20. ^ "Equinoctial Climax". Time magazine. October 5, 1936. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Mike Tilden English 15 Gregg Rogers 10/24/2002 September 11 Defines "American Hero"" ([dead link] – Scholar search). Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); External link in |format= (help)
  22. ^ Davis, J.H. (1988). [?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=info:tFte_3bGN7AJ:scholar.google.com/&output=viewport "Fixing the Standard of Care: Motivated Athletes and Medical Malpractice"]. American Journal of Trial Advocacy. 12: 215. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help)
  23. ^ Greenberg, D.A. (2004). "VEGF and ALS: the luckiest growth factor?". Trends in Molecular Medicine. 10 (1): 1–3. doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2003.11.006. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ a b c d Malik, N. (2000). "Lou Gehrig's Disease: A Closer Look at the Genetic Basis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" ([dead link] – Scholar search). Pediatrics. 3 (3). Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite journal}}: External link in |format= (help)
  25. ^ Bob Chick (2008-02-24). "Spring Training In St. Petersburg — The Final Out". The Tampa Tribune.
  26. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, p. 248.
  27. ^ Walling, A.D. (1999). "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Lou Gehrig's disease". Am Fam Physician. 59 (6): 1489–96. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  28. ^ a b "Quotes about Lou Gehrig". lougehrig.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  29. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, pp. 251–253.
  30. ^ a b c d Eig, Jonathan (2005). Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743245911. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  31. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, p. 258.
  32. ^ Cardoso, R.M.F. (2002). "Insights into Lou Gehrig's Disease from the Structure and Instability of the A4V Mutant of Human Cu, Zn Superoxide Dismutase". Journal of Molecular Biology. 324 (2): 247–256. doi:10.1016/S0022-2836(02)01090-2. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ Kaden, S. (2002). "More About His ALS Battle". Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  34. ^ a b c John Drebinger, "61,808 Fans Roar Tribute to Gehrig", The New York Times, July 5, 1939.
  35. ^ Belli, R.F. (1996). "The complexity of ignorance" (PDF). Qualitative Sociology. 19 (3): 423–430. doi:10.1007/BF02393279. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Greenberger, R. (2003). Lou Gehrig. The Rosen Publishing Group.
  37. ^ The inscription on the trophy presented to Gehrig from his Yankees teammates:

                 "We've been to the wars together;
                  We took our foes as they came;
                  And always you were the leader,
                  And ever you played the game.

                  Idol of cheering millions,
                  Records are yours by sheaves;
                  Iron of frame they hailed you
                  Decked you with laurel leaves.

                  But higher than that we hold you,
                  We who have known you best;
                  Knowing the way you came through
                  Every human test.

                  Let this be a silent token
                  Of lasting Friendship's gleam,
                  And all that we've left unspoken;
                  Your Pals of the Yankees Team."

    Source: The Day He Retired, S. Kaden, 2003
  38. ^ a b The Day He Retired, S. Kaden, 2003
  39. ^ "FAREWELL SPEECH". lougehrig.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  40. ^ Robinson, Ray (1990). Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time. New York: W.W. Norton. pp. p. 266. ISBN 0393028577. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  41. ^ "Henry Louis Gehrig". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  42. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, p. 266.
  43. ^ New York City Parole Commission history In appointing Gehrig as a Parole Commissioner, Mayor LaGuardia said, "I believe he will be not only a capable, intelligent commissioner but that he will be an inspiration and a hope to many of the younger boys who have gotten into trouble. Surely the misfortune of some of the young men will compare as something trivial with what Mr. Gehrig has so cheerfully and courageously faced." Gehrig continued to go regularly to his City Hall office until a month before his death.
  44. ^ Cleveland, D.W. (2001). "From Charcot to Lou Gehrig: deciphering selective motor neuron death in ALS" (PDF). Nat Rev Neurosci. 2 (11): 806–19. doi:10.1038/35097565. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  45. ^ "Gehrig, 'Iron Man' of Baseball, Dies at the age of 37", The New York Times, June 3, 1941.
  46. ^ Yardley, Jonathan. "Book World Live: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig", The Washington Post, April 5, 2005. Accessed May 3, 2008. "On June 2, 1941, just days short of his 38th birthday, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his house in the pleasant New York City neighborhood of Riverdale."
  47. ^ Time magazine, June 16, 1941.
  48. ^ Innes, A.M. (1999). "Genetic landmarks through philately- Henry Louis'Lou' Gehrig and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis". Clinical Genetics. 56 (6): 425–427. doi:10.1034/j.1399-0004.1999.560603.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ a b c d e "Achievements". lougehrig.com. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "records" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  50. ^ The record is held with 14 other players
  51. ^ The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in his honor and is given to players who best exemplify Gehrig's character and integrity both on and off the field. Since the award was created in 1955, the name of each winner has been placed on the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
  52. ^ "Line-Up For Yesterday by Ogden Nash". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2008-01-23. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |work= at position 10 (help)
  53. ^ Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time, pp. 231–232.
  54. ^ "Lou Gehrig, Rawhide, and 1938". American Academy of Neurology. 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2008-04-22. {{cite web}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  55. ^ Partridge, Ernest. "Jean Shepherd -- 1921-1999". Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

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