"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth...."

(Above: Lou Gehrig's retired jersey number in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.)

Introduction: My Life as a Fan of the Greatest Sports Team, Professional or College, in the History of the World

Baseball, not football, is America's greatest game because it is most aptly-titled "The National Pastime." I have been watching baseball since my birth year of 1981, and to this day, my father still speaks of how he sat me on his lap at approximately four months of age to watch each game during the 1981 World Series between the Yankees, the team I was predestined to follow due to being my father's son, and the Dodgers, which ended in a Dodgers championship after they rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to win the final four games.  This would be the last time the team would appear in the World Series for 15 years, which to date remains the second longest drought since the franchise missed the Fall Classic from the time it was still in Baltimore in 1901 until the team finally broke through in 1921, two years after former owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert purchased Babe Ruth and several other players from the Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee. Frazee sold away the team's fortunes for the next 84 years because he wanted money to fund a Broadway musical, resulting in the Red Sox fading away as the Major Leagues' most dominant franchise.  Upon the most lopsided player swap in the history of North American sports, the ultimate professional sports empire was born, appearing in 40 World Series between 1921 and 2009 and winning 27 World Championships between 1923 and 2009.  No other sports franchise in the history of the world has ever matched the level of success of the New York Yankees, and it is likely that no other professional or college sports team ever will.

I have been a fan of the Yankees since the 1990 season, when the franchise finished dead last in the American League East Division with a 67-95 while endeavoring through just the second rebuilding effort in the past quarter century.  The previous as well as the following two seasons were also losing seasons, and I recall asking my father on many occasions between 1990 and 1992 as I was engaging in more actively following the Yankees if the team would ever win the World Series.  He often laughed at me like he knew some tidbit of esoteric knowledge I did not, and told me to just be patient, and then would always go into a short story about the rich history and tradition of the franchise, which including descriptions of the Hall of Famers and the previous 22 World Championships won.  Sure enough, he was correct, because by 1993, the team spent a goodly portion of the season tied for first place in the division with the Toronto Blue Jays, who would go on to win its second consecutive World Series in a dramatic Game Six win over the Philadelphia Phillies on the strength of Joe Carter's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Phillies' closer Mitch Williams.  The following season, 1994, the Yankees finished with the best record in the American League and the second in all of Major League Baseball behind the Montreal Expos, but the player's strike ended the season as well as causing the cancellation of the World Series that year for the first time since 1904.  This was unfortunate for the Yankees and for me because it delayed the team's first World Championship run since 1978 for two more years since the following season they were eliminated by the Seattle Mariners on the strength of the stellar play by Ken Griffey, Jr., and Randy Johnson in what still remains as one of the great postseason series in league history.  Perhaps saddest of all for me is that the strike prevented me from ever getting to see my hero Don Mattingly ever play in the World Series.  I do, however, cherish the memories of his warrior-like efforts in the 1995 Division Series in which he hit .417 with one home run and six RBI's as it was literally just "Donnie Baseball" and another Yankee great, Bernie Williams, who kept the Yankee offense afloat. And in 1996, my long, agonizing wait ended when team upset the heavily-favored Atlanta Braves who had one of the greatest starting pitching staffs in Major League history in six games after losing the first two games.  It was at this time that a new generation of future Hall of Famers burst onto the scene for the Yankees, most notably Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

The Tragedy of Lou Gehrig

(Above: Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees.)

"Line-Up for Yesterday"

G is for Gehrig
The Pride of the Stadium;

His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

 — Ogden Nash, SPORT (January 1949)^[67]

Earlier this morning, I posted an article celebrating the 237th anniversary of the ultimate triumph that became the great American experiment in democracy. Throughout the long history of Major League Baseball, too, there have been great events occurring on America's birthday to add special meaning to the holiday: both Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Phil Niekro struck out their 3,000th batters during the holiday; and 30 years ago today, the Yankees' Dave Righetti pitched the first no-hitter by a member of the team since Don Larsen's perfect game in Game Five of the 1956 World Series. However, this is also a watershed day in the history of Major League Baseball, particularly for the Yankees, as one of the greatest legends bid the Yankee family and fans, and the world farewell in front of 61,808 fans at what was arguably one of the two greatest sporting venues in the history of mankind alongside the Roman Coliseum, Yankee Stadium.  Lou Gehrig had been diagnosed with a disease that would become better known in bearing his name, called "amytrophical lateral sclerosis" (ALS) on June 19, 1939, on his 36th birthday.  He had noticed, according to Wikipedia, physical changes, stating at the end of the 1938 season that "I tired mid-season. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again."  While posting well-above average statistics in 1938 (.295 batting average, 114 RBI, 170 hits, .523 slugging percentage, 689 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs), he had largely struggled in the World Series, going 4-14 with all four hits being singles.   But in 1939, there was no denying there was a problem with him physically, as he became a virtual invalid on the diamond.  By the end of April, his statistics were the worst of his career, with one 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."

And indeed, Gehrig was making contact with pitches, striking out only once in 28 at-bats.  However, legendary Yankees manager 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 field the throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou."  And on April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the Washington Senators. Gehrig had just played his 2,130th consecutive major league game.  On May 2, the next game after an off-date, Gehrig approached McCarthy prior to the game in Detroit against the Tigers and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe... for the good of the team."  McCarthy acquiesced, and plugged Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren in at first base, making Gehrig's replacement an answer to trivia questions at bars nationwide as well as on Jeopardy! forever.  Gehrig would remain with the Yankees as the team's captain, but he would never play again.

As Lou Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, his wife, Eleanor, called the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her call was transferred to Charles William Mayo, who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Mayo told Eleanor to bring Gehrig as soon as possible. Gehrig flew alone 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 ALS was confirmed on June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday as previously stated. The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, and a life expectancy of less 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 motor function of the central nervous system is destroyed but the mind remains fully aware to the end.

Gehrig's love for his wife, Eleanor, was tender and sweet, and one of the most storied in the history of American sports.  He used to write to her frequently.  In one letter written shortly following his examination, he said:

"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..."

In a sad irony prompted by the visual of Boy Scouts greeting and waving to him in wishing him luck, Gehrig leaned over to a reporter standing adjacent to him and grimly uttered:

 "They're wishing me luck -- and I'm dying."

July 4th, 1939: Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium

(Above: Lou Gehrig crying during or after his speech on July 4th, 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." Dignitaries extolled the dying slugger and the members of the 1927 Yankees World Series 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."

(Above: Babe Ruth hugs Lou Gehrig after his speech on July 4th, 1939.  This was the moment that their feud over an alleged comment by Gehrig's mother regarding the comparison of the attire of Ruth's daughters came to an end.)

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."

The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number "4", making him the first player in Major League Baseball history to be accorded that honor. 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. 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. The trophy cost only about $5, but it became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions. It is currently on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.  On the trophy, his teammates had inscribed the following:

              "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."

However, the most important event of the day was not the number of accolades and honors Gehrig received, but of the speech that followed.  Generally, we acknowledge most great speeches as having been delivered by politicians, most notably presidents and religious clergymen and women, who are generally renowned as being great orators. This one, however, was by an athlete, though a very educated one as he attended Columbia University, a member of the Ivy League family of universities located in New York City, as is part of the school's official titled Columbia University in the City of New York.  His speech is one of the most famous in American history, and without a doubt in the history of professional sports, much less Major League Baseball.  

Below is film footage of Gehrig's speech on July 4th, 1939.  It is the most complete copy available on YouTube, as the only full-length video I was able to find over the two hours spent looking for a copy of the film was on Fox Sport, whose video format was not YouTube and therefore incompatible with what Blogger will allow:

The only unfortunate comment written by a journalist was when David Whitley of the July 4, 2011 article in The Sporting News stated that the speech would have been better had it been delivered by Hillary Clinton.

Conclusion: Lou Gehrig's Legacy

On June 6, 1941, four days after Gehrig passed away, the Yankees dedicated a monument in center field to him, making him the second player or manager in the franchise's history to be so honored after Miller Huggins in 1932.  On it is inscribed what perhaps is the greatest tribute to a man so filled with superlatives that only a simple, yet eloquent phrase such as this could have been stated to appropriately describe his accomplishments:

"A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time."

On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Gehrig's consecutive games record on his way to 2,632, which he ended on his own terms on September 20, 1998.  Ironically, it came against what was arguably one of the greatest single-season teams in the history of North American sports and the same franchise for whom Gehrig played: the New York Yankees, who won that day 5-4 in Baltimore.  As a 14 year old student in the 8th Grade, I recall vividly watching the game in which Ripken broke Gehrig's record on that September 8 night in 1995, including the home run in which Chris Berman nearly had an orgasm when he proclaimed, "Oh my goodness!  He's done it again!"  As melodramatic as it was, I appreciated what Ripken was accomplishing.  Both men endured copious injuries and serious illnesses during the course of their streaks to reach the totals at which they arrived.  But upon further reflection, I also noted one undeniable fact: Ripken was nowhere near the player as was Gehrig. While I do not have his career statistics from that very game in his career, their batting records were both excellent and yet incomparable, as Gehrig's far exceeded Ripken's in quality.  Consider these statistics below:

• Gehrig's statistics: .340 BA; 493 HR; 1,993 RBI; 2,721 hits in 8,001 AB; 1.080 OPS; .632 SLG; .447 OBP
• Ripken's statistics: .276 BA; 431 HR; 1,695 RBI; 3,184 hits in 11,552 AB; .788 OPS; .447 SLG; .340 OBP

There is clearly no comparison in the level of greatness between the two players. Furthermore, Gehrig played on six World Championship teams and was still the team's captain even after his failing health forced him into a premature retirement during the 1939 season, so that would make seven championship teams.  Ripken, however, only played on one World Championship team in 1983, and never again returned to the Fall Classic.  

In 1969, Gehrig was voted the greatest first baseman of all-time by the Baseball Writers' Association. Sixty years later in 1999, he received the most votes of any baseball player selected on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as chosen by the fans.  That same year, he was also named the sixth greatest player by The Sporting News on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."  The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given annually to the MLB player best exhibiting the integrity and character of Gehrig, was first presented in 1955 and was named in the first baseman's honor.

(Above: Lou Gehrig and wife Eleanor playing at the piano.)

As was mentioned earlier, his marriage and love for Eleanor is one of the renowned in this history of American sports.  In 1976, Mrs. Gehrig authored an autobiography titled My Luke and I, describing her life and the mutual love shared between the two.  When commenting on her life with her famous husband, she said:

"I would not have traded two minutes of joy and the grief with that man for two decades of anything with another."

While it is true that Gehrig was an even better person than he was a ballplayer, a high compliment considering her his greatness on the diamond, perhaps his greatest legacy is that which killed him.  God has a purpose behind every person who is born into Creation.  While he provided 15 years of wonderful memories for the generation of children and adolescents who matured to adulthood between the era of the "Roaring '20's" and the economic and social depths of the Great Depression, his diagnosis, suffering, and ultimately his death as a result of ALS led to greater awareness of the disease; in fact, the disease is now most commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."  Since then, there have been major medical breakthroughs in treating those afflicted with ALS, as famous British University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking also suffers from it and has since about 1963-64, when he was 21 years old.  Today, he is 72, and though almost completely paralyzed, he still is the considered arguably the most brilliant scientist in the world and speaks through a speech generating device.  Still, scores of people die within a matter of a few years of their diagnosis with the illness because they do not have the pecuniary means to procure the proper treatment as does Hawking.  Research continues on to this day in finding a way to treat and hopefully eventually cure the illness. This research might not be nearly as aggressively-pursued today without the ultimate sacrifice paid by Gehrig. It is, therefore, that we attribute to the man who already was noted in his day as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, that his greatest accomplishment, what I will regard is his "masterpiece," is his ultimate sacrifice to the cause of medical science. The legacy of Gehrig has long outlived Gehrig the man.  

For more information on how you can help the promote the cause of medical research for ALS (aka. "Lou Gehrig's Disease"), please visit The ALS Association, the organization leading the fight against Lou Gehrig's Disease.