Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis Gehrig Jr. (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig Jr. /ɡɛərɪɡ/;[1] June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him his nickname "the Iron Horse". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He was an All-Star seven consecutive times,[2] a Triple Crown winner once,[3] an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice,[3] and a member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career .340 batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on-base average. He hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBI). He still has the highest ratio of runs scored plus runs batted in per 100 plate appearances (35.08) and per 100 games (156.7) among Hall of Fame players. In 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame[4] and was the first MLB player to have his uniform number (4) retired by a team.
"Gehrig" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Gehrig (surname).Lou Gehrig
A native of New York City and a student at Columbia University, Gehrig signed with the Yankees on April 29, 1923. He set several major-league records during his career,[5] including the most career grand slams (23; since broken by Alex Rodriguez)[6][7] and most consecutive games played (2,130), a record that stood for 56 years and was long considered unbreakable until it was surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995.[8][9] Gehrig's consecutive game streak ended on May 2, 1939, when he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup, stunning both players and fans, after his performance on the field became hampered by an undiagnosed ailment subsequently confirmed to be amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is an incurable neuromuscular illness, now commonly referred to in the United States as "Lou Gehrig's disease".[10]
ALS forced Gehrig to retire in early 1939, at age 36. In July 1939 he delivered his "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at Yankee Stadium. Two years later, Gehrig died of complications from ALS. In 1969, the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted Gehrig the greatest first baseman of all time,[11] and he was the leading vote-getter on the MLB All-Century Team chosen by fans in 1999.[12] A monument in Gehrig's honor, originally dedicated by the Yankees in 1941, currently resides in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to the MLB player who best exhibits Gehrig's integrity and character.
College career[edit]
He then studied engineering at Columbia University for two years, finding the schoolwork difficult before leaving to pursue a career in professional baseball.[28] He had been recruited to play football at the school, earning a scholarship there,[20] later joining the baseball squad. Before his first semester began, New York Giants manager John McGraw advised him to play summer professional baseball under an assumed name, Henry Lewis, despite the fact that it could jeopardize his collegiate sports eligibility. After he played a dozen games for the Hartford Senators in the Eastern League, he was discovered and banned from collegiate sports his freshman year.[29] In 1922 Gehrig returned to collegiate sports as a fullback for the Columbia Lions football program. Later, in 1923, he played first base and pitched for the Columbia baseball team.[29] At Columbia, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[30]
On April 18, 1923, the same day Yankee Stadium opened for the first time and Babe Ruth inaugurated the new stadium with a home run against the Boston Red Sox, Columbia pitcher Gehrig struck out 17 Williams Ephs batters to set a team record, though Columbia lost the game. Only a handful of collegians were at Columbia's South Field that day, but more significant was the presence of Yankee scout Paul Krichell, who had been trailing Gehrig for some time. Gehrig's pitching did not particularly impress him; rather, it was Gehrig's powerful left-handed hitting. Krichell observed Gehrig hit some of the longest home runs ever seen on various eastern campuses, including a 450-foot (137 m) home run on April 28 at South Field, which landed at 116th Street and Broadway.[31] Scouts saw Gehrig as "the next Babe Ruth".[20]
Professional career[edit]
Minor leagues[edit]
Gehrig signed a contract with the Yankees on April 30.[32] Gehrig returned to the minor-league Hartford Senators to play parts of two seasons, 1923 and 1924, batting .344 and hitting 61 home runs in 193 games. Except for his games with Hartford, a two-hour car ride away, Gehrig would play his entire baseball life—sandlot, high school, college and professional—with teams based in New York City.