Lou Gehrig Day

[Don Wassall]

I was surprised to find out that every June 2nd starting this year is Lou Gehrig Day in MLB, in honor of the Yankees great who sadly died of ALS at the age of 37, just two years after his Ironman consecutive games streak of 2,130 games ended due to his failing health.

Gehrig's annual day is mainly about raising awareness about ALS, but it's at least something in this virulent anti-White age we live in, as Gehrig now joins Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson as the only players honored with annual days by MLB.

Gehrig always played in the shadow of Babe Ruth, as he's best remembered now for his "I'm the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" speech delivered as he was dying to nearly 62,000 fans at Yankee Stadium on July 4th, 1939, but he was an all-time great.

Gehrig had a .340 lifetime batting average, 1,955 RBIs, and is third all-time in on-base/slugging percentage behind only Ruth and Ted Williams. He both drove in over 100 runs and scored over 100 runs for 13 straight seasons, a record. He drove in more than 150 runs in a season seven different times, two more times than anyone else. His .92 RBIs per game is the highest of anyone who played after 1900. And of course the number 2,130 was a magical one until Cal Ripken broke Gehrig's famous record in 1995.

Like Ripken, Gehrig was always humble and classy. His famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium was only 277 words but it's one of the most famous speeches in American history. Here's the closest I could come to finding it, though it's not in its entirety.

 

[Phall]

Great baseball news and a step in an unexpected direction from Manfred. Gehrig has that aura of stoicism that is completely foreign to modern athletes and unrecognizable to audiences.

I've always been fascinated by the guy he replaced at first base, Wally Pipp. Pipp scouted Gehrig and encouraged the Yankees to sign him, then mentored him in his early playing days. Pipp led the American League in homers in 1916 and 1917 (with a whopping 12 and 9). There are competing theories as to why he was replaced in 1925: Pipp might have had a headache from getting beaned that week, he might have snuck off that day to gamble at the race track, or the manager may have just benched him against a lefty starting pitcher. Pipp served as a naval aviation cadet during WW1, but was not deployed. He lost his baseball earnings in the stock market crash of 1929 and found work in the WW2 era building bomber jets at a Ford plant.

Former Patriots starting QB Drew Bledsoe is probably the most famous case of getting "Wally Pipped."

 

[Don Wassall]

From the magazine article I used for some of the original post's info: "Gehrig's phenomenal endurance mark actually began when he pinch-hit on June 1, 1925. Lore had it that Pipp suffered a debilitating headache after a batting practice beaning the next day, opening the door [for Gehrig]. Problem is the story isn't true, even though the myth continues to be perpetuated all these decades later. Pipp didn't suffer that beaning for another month. Gehrig started on June 2 because Yankees manager Miller Huggins wanted to shake up his slumping lineup. Larrupin' Lou went 3-for-5 that afternoon, and the rest is history."

 

[Flint]

Also the subject of probably the best baseball movie ever 'Pride of the Yankees". Gary Cooper did a pretty good job of playing Gehrig and it helped having some actual players in it (like Ruth).

 

[Freethinker]

Thank you Don for starting the thread and sharing the good news that The Iron Horse was finally being honored with his own day. I’ve always felt a strong affinity towards Gehrig and I’d probably choose him as my favorite historic athlete of all-time. I think it has to do with our shared German ancestry, his playing for my favorite team and his stoic / humble demeanor.

Lou grew up in the German section of Manhattan (Yorkville) and proceeded to play his entire baseball career in NYC; youth, HS, college (Columbia) and the NY Yankees. Seems impossible for that to happen these days. I also have fond memories of my dad pointing out his former house in the Riverdale section of The Bronx when we’d drive past it (I grew up 10 mins away). It was a lovely home, but modest I thought, for one of the most famous athletes of the sport.



Riverdale contains many large, extravagant homes (for NYC at least), so I’d imagine Gehrig choose something more humble for a reason.

Here’s a bit of an extended video of the famous July 4th day. Famed mayor LaGuardia spoke as well as legendary manager Joe McCarthy and the one-and-only Babe Ruth. You could tell by his clothing and brief speech that Ruth was a showman. Perhaps that is why they had a rift before burying the hatchet when these events unfolded? Either way, watching the old video makes me sad. The people seemed far more respectable…..we've lost so much.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Yes, Don thanks for posting and Freethinker for the video. ALS is a horrible disease. I don't know if this has been posted on the NFL thread, but former Chicago Bear defensive tackle Steve McMichael is battling ALS and cannot move his arms now, and as most here know former 49er great Dwight Clark died of ALS three years ago this month. I recently found out that a former work colleague of mine has ALS. Such sad news about a disease that a cure cannot be found.