Lou Gehrig

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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. [54]

Gehrig was indeed meeting the ball, with only one strikeout in 28 at-bats. However, with Gehrig hitless in five of the eight games, McCarthy found himself resisting pressure from Yankee management to switch his slumping player to a part-time role. Things came to a head when Gehrig struggled 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." [54] Gehrig's later assessment was very dismissive. "That was the simplest play you could ever make in baseball, and I knew then: There was something wrong with me." [55]

On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the Washington Senators. He had just played his 2,130th consecutive major league game. [56] 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". [57] McCarthy acquiesced, putting Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig felt he could play again, the position was his. Gehrig, as Yankee captain, himself took the lineup card out to the shocked umpires before the game, ending the 14-year 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 Tigers' fans gave Gehrig a standing ovation while he sat on the bench with tears in his eyes. [50] Coincidentally, among those attending the game was Wally Pipp, whom Gehrig had replaced at first base 2,130 games previously. A wire-service photograph of Gehrig reclining against the dugout steps with a stoic expression appeared the next day in the nation's newspapers. He stayed with the Yankees as team captain for the rest of the season but never played in a major-league game again. [50]

Diagnosis

As Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, his wife called the 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 Gehrig's wife to bring him to the clinic as soon as possible. [50]

Gehrig flew alone to Rochester from Chicago, where the Yankees were playing at the time, and arrived at the Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. After six days of extensive testing, doctors confirmed the diagnosis of ALS on June 19, which was Gehrig's 36th birthday. [58] The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty in swallowing and speaking and a life expectancy less than three years, although no impairment of mental functions would occur. Gehrig's wife was told that the cause of the disease was unknown, but that it was painless, not contagious and cruel; the motor function of the central nervous system is destroyed, but the mind remains fully aware until the end. [59] [60] Eleanor later wrote of this time: "The call came from Dr. Mayo and Dr. O'Leary, and it hit me amidships. "Take your time and give me the works," Lou had ordered them with a laugh when the testing began. And they took their time and gave him the works. At the outside, they told me on the telephone, he had two and a half years to live." [61] Gehrig often wrote letters to his wife, and one such note written shortly after the diagnosis said in part:

The bad news is lateral sclerosis, in our language "creeping" 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 ... [62]

Gehrig continued,

 ... and Paul [Dr. O'Leary, Mayo Clinic] suggests a coaching job or job in the office or writing. I made him honestly assure me that it will not affect me mentally. They seem to think I'll get along all right if I can reconcile myself to this condition, which I have done but only after they assured me there is no danger of transmission and that I will not become mentally unbalanced and thereby become a burden on your hands for life. I adore you, sweetheart. [63]

Following Gehrig's diagnosis, he briefly rejoined the Yankees in Washington, D.C. 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, Rutherford "Rud" Rennie of the New York Herald Tribune , and said, "They're wishing me luck—and I'm dying." [9] [64]

Possibility of CTE

Although Gehrig's symptoms were consistent with ALS and he did not experience the wild mood swings and eruptions of uncontrolled violence that define chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an article in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology [65] suggested the possibility that some ALS-related illnesses diagnosed in Gehrig and other athletes may have been CTE, catalyzed by repeated concussions and other brain trauma. [66] [67] In 2012, Minnesota state representative Phyllis Kahn sought to change the law protecting the privacy of Gehrig's medical records, which are held by the Mayo Clinic, in an effort to determine if a connection could exist between his illness and the concussion-related trauma that he had received during his career. Gehrig played fullback on the football team at Columbia University and had a long history of concussions, including several incidents in which he lost consciousness. He played through these injuries. [68] [69]

Gehrig played prior to the advent of batting helmets. To diagnose CTE would require autopsy results; none was conducted on Gehrig before his remains were cremated following his open-casket wake. [68] Multiple physicians have argued that examining records alone would be fruitless. [70]

Retirement

Lou Gehrig's number 4 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1939. LouGehrig4.jpg
Lou Gehrig's number 4 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1939.
The Yankee dynamic duo reunited - Gehrig and Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, shortly after Gehrig's retirement. Within a decade, a similar testimonial would honor Ruth, who died from cancer in 1948. Babe Ruth hugging Lou Gehrig (1939).jpg
The Yankee dynamic duo reunited  Gehrig and Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, shortly after Gehrig's retirement. Within a decade, a similar testimonial would honor Ruth, who died from cancer in 1948.

Staff at the Mayo Clinic released their ALS diagnosis to the public on June 19, 1939. Two days later, the Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement, with an immediate public push to honor him. [71] In its coverage the following day, The New York Times wrote that the ceremony 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." [72] Dignitaries and members of the Murderers' Row lineup attended the ceremonies and praised Gehrig. New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia called Gehrig the "perfect prototype of the best sportsmanship and citizenship" and Postmaster General James Farley concluded his speech by predicting, "Your name will live long in baseball and wherever the game is played they will point with pride and satisfaction to your record." [71]

Yankees manager Joe McCarthy then spoke of Gehrig, a close friend. Struggling to control his emotions, McCarthy described Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman and citizen that baseball has ever known." He turned tearfully to Gehrig and 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." [73]

The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number 4, making him the first player in MLB history to be so honored. [74] Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques and trophies. Some were presented by VIPs and others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. As Gehrig was handed the gifts, he would immediately place them on the ground, as he no longer had the arm strength to hold them. [9] The Yankees presented Gehrig with a silver trophy bearing all of their engraved signatures. Inscribed on the front was a poem written by Times writer John Kieran at the players' request. [75]

The trophy became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions. [75] It is currently on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

"The luckiest man on the face of the earth"

On July 4, 1939, Gehrig delivered what has been called "baseball's Gettysburg Address" to a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium in between a doubleheader against the Washington Senators. [76] [77] [78] [79] Having always avoided public attention, Gehrig did not want to speak, but the crowd chanted for him and he had memorized some sentences beforehand. [15]

Fans, for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. [80] [pause] Today [81] I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the [82] earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

When you look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today? [83] 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 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.

Only four sentences of the speech exist in recorded form; complete versions of the speech are assembled from newspaper accounts. [15]

For the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. (pause) Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. (cut) When you look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today? (cut) ... that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you. [84]

The crowd stood and cheered for almost two minutes. [75] Gehrig's sometimes-estranged former teammate Babe Ruth hugged him as a band played "I Love You Truly" and the crowd chanted, "We love you, Lou!" The Times account the following day called the moment "one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field" that made even hard-boiled reporters "swallow hard." [72]

Career statistics

Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig as a new Yankee 11 Jun 1923.jpg
Gehrig with the New York Yankees in 1923
First baseman
Born:(1903-06-19)June 19, 1903
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died: June 2, 1941(1941-06-02) (aged 37)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 15, 1923, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
April 30, 1939, for the New York Yankees
Years G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB XBH RBI SB BB AVG OBP SLG OPS FLD%
172,1648,0011,8882,7215341634935,0601,1901,9951021,508.340.447.6321.080.991

Source:

Gehrig was a productive hitter in the postseason. He played in the World Series seven times and won six of them. In 34 total World Series games (1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938), he batted .361 (43-for-119) with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 35 RBI, 26 walks, .483 on-base percentage, .731 slugging percentage, and 1.214 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Later life

Gehrig's funeral at Christ Episcopal Church in Riverdale, Bronx, June 4, 1941 Lou Gehrig wake 1941.jpg
Gehrig's funeral at Christ Episcopal Church in Riverdale, Bronx, June 4, 1941
Lou and Eleanor Gehrig's headstone in Kensico Cemetery (the year of his birth was erroneously inscribed as "1905") Lou Gehrig best 800.jpg
Lou and Eleanor Gehrig's headstone in Kensico Cemetery (the year of his birth was erroneously inscribed as "1905")

Gehrig played his last game for the Yankees on April 30, 1939. [85] On July 11 of that year, he appeared at the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium as the AL team captain, officially on the roster as a reserve player, exchanging lineup cards prior to the game. [86] [87]

Following his retirement from baseball, Gehrig wrote, "Don't think I am depressed or pessimistic about my condition at present." 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." [9]

In October 1939, Gehrig accepted Mayor La Guardia's appointment to a ten-year term as a New York City parole commissioner (Gehrig had moved from New Rochelle to Riverdale to satisfy a residency requirement for the job) and was sworn into office on January 2, 1940. [88] The Parole Commission commended Gehrig for his "firm belief in parole, properly administered", stating that he "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's correctional facilities but insisted that the visits not be covered by news media. [89] He was often helped by his wife Eleanor, who would guide his hand when he had to sign official documents. When Gehrig's deteriorating physical condition made it impossible for him to continue, he quietly resigned from the position about a month before his death. [90]

Death

At 10:10 p.m. on June 2, 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday, Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. [91] [92] Upon hearing the news, Babe Ruth and his wife Claire went to the Gehrig residence to console Gehrig's wife Eleanor. Mayor La Guardia ordered flags in New York to be flown at half-staff, and MLB ballparks around the nation did likewise. [93]

Thousands viewed Gehrig's body at the Church of the Divine Paternity. Ruth cut in line ahead of everyone and wept in front of the casket. [15] Following the funeral across the street from his house at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale, Gehrig's remains were cremated on June 4 at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, 21 miles (34 km) north of Yankee Stadium in suburban Westchester County. Gehrig's ashes were locked into a crypt in the stone monument marking his grave. [94] Gehrig and Ed Barrow are interred in the same section of the cemetery, which is next door to Gate of Heaven, where the graves of Ruth and Billy Martin lie in Section 25. [95]

Eleanor never remarried and was quoted as saying, "I had the best of it. I would not have traded two minutes of my life with that man for forty years with another." She dedicated the remainder of her life to supporting ALS research. She died on her 80th birthday, March 6, 1984, and was interred with him in Kensico Cemetery. [22]

Legacy

Statistical accomplishments

Lou Gehrig Way in New Rochelle, New York: Gehrig lived in a modest home at 9 Meadow Lane in the Residents Park section near the College of New Rochelle. Lou Gehrig Way 2010.JPG
Lou Gehrig Way in New Rochelle, New York: Gehrig lived in a modest home at 9 Meadow Lane in the Residents Park section near the College of New Rochelle.

Despite playing in the shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career, Gehrig was one of the best run producers in baseball history; he 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 not consecutive. (Babe Ruth had 498.) [96] Playing 14 complete seasons, Gehrig had 13 consecutive seasons with 100 or more RBIs (a major-league record shared with Foxx and tied in 2010 by Alex Rodriguez).

Gehrig had six seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), plus a seventh season at .349. Gehrig led the American League in runs scored four times, home runs three times, and RBIs five times. His 185 RBIs in 1931 remain the AL record as of 2025 and rank second all-time to Hack Wilson's 191 in 1930. On the single-season RBI list, Gehrig ranks second, fifth (175) and sixth (174), with four additional seasons of over 150 RBIs.

Gehrig also holds the baseball record for most seasons with 400 total bases or more, accomplishing this feat five times in his career. [97] He batted fourth in the lineup behind Ruth, making intentionally walking Ruth counterproductive for opposing pitchers.

Lefty Grove, one of the AL's best pitchers during Gehrig's playing days who often threw the ball at batters, refrained from doing so to Gehrig. "You can never tell what that big fellow will do if you get him mad at you," Grove explained. [98]

Comparisons with Ruth

Unlike Ruth, Gehrig had the physique of a power hitter. Ruth usually hit home runs as high fly balls, while Gehrig's were line drives. [15] During the ten seasons (1925–1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were teammates and next to each other in the batting order and played a majority of the games, Gehrig had more home runs than Ruth only once, in 1934 (Ruth's last year with the Yankees, as a 39-year-old), when he hit 49 to Ruth's 22 (Ruth played 125 games that year, and a handful in 1935 before retiring). They tied at 46 in 1931. Ruth had 424 home runs compared to Gehrig's 347; however, Gehrig outpaced Ruth in RBIs, 1,436 to 1,316. Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth, during this period. [56]

"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) [99]

Election to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Gehrig's plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame HOF Gehrig Lou plaque.jpg
Gehrig's plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

During a winter meeting of the Baseball Writers' Association on December 7, 1939, Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a special election related to his illness. [88] At age 36, he was the youngest player to be so honored (since surpassed by Sandy Koufax, who was five months younger than Gehrig at the time of his election in 1972). [100]

Gehrig never had a formal induction ceremony. On July 28, 2013, he and 11 other deceased ballplayers received a special tribute during the induction ceremony, held during "Hall of Fame Induction Weekend" in Cooperstown, New York. [101]

Monument

The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig in center field at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941; the shrine lauded 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. [56]

Memorial plaques

Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan at 1994 Second Avenue, near E. 103rd Street, is memorialized with a plaque marking the site, as is another early residence on 309 E. 94th Street, near Second Avenue. Gehrig died in a white house at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The house still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque. [24] [ failed verification ]

Lou Gehrig Memorial Award

The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to an MLB player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Gehrig, off and on the field. [102] The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in 1955, 14 years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy." [102] The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in Oxford, Ohio, [103] and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Medical Center

The ALS treatment and research center at his alma mater, Columbia University, is named The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center. [104] Located at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, they have a clinical and research function directed at ALS and the related motor neuron diseases primary lateral sclerosis and progressive muscular atrophy.

Lou Gehrig Day

In March 2021, Major League Baseball declared June 2 henceforth to be Lou Gehrig Day. [105] June 2 was chosen because it is the anniversary of when Gehrig became the Yankees' starting first baseman in 1925 and when he died in 1941. [106]

Records, awards, and accomplishments

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 fan balloting in 1999. [107]

In 1999, editors at Sporting News ranked Gehrig sixth on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". [108] In 2022, as part of their SN Rushmore project, they also named Gehrig on their "New York Mount Rushmore of Sports", along with fellow Yankee Babe Ruth, New York Knicks basketball player Walt Frazier, and New York Giants football player Lawrence Taylor. [109]

Records

Gehrig sliding into home plate in 1925 Lou Gehrig 1925.jpg
Gehrig sliding into home plate in 1925
MLB Records
AccomplishmentRecordRefs
Most consecutive seasons with 120+ RBIs8 (1927–1934) [110]
Highest on-base percentage by a first baseman.447 [110]
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman.632 [110]
Most extra base hits by a first baseman1,190 [110]
Single–season
Most runs batted-in by a first baseman184 (1931) [110]
Most runs scored by a first baseman167 (1936) [110]
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman.765 (1927) [110]
Extra-base hits by a first baseman117 (1927) [110]
Most total bases by a first baseman447 (1927) [110]
Single–game
Most home runs 4 [110]

    Awards and honors

    Award/HonorNo. of timesDatesRefs
    American League All-Star 71933–1939 [111]
    American League MVP 21927, 1936 [112]
    Named starting first baseman on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team 1999 [107]
    Inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 1939 [7]
    World Series champion 6 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938

    Other accomplishments

    AccomplishmentYearRef
    Triple Crown (.363 BA, 49 HR, 165 RBI)1934 [110]
    Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936 [113]
    With Stan Musial, one of two players to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 450 home runs in a career [110]
    One of only four players (with Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams) to end career with a minimum .330 batting average, 450 home runs, and 1,800 RBI [110]
    With Albert Pujols, one of two players to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the a season three times1927, 1930, 1934 [114]
    Scored game-winning run in eight World Series games [110]
    First athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties [115]
    First baseball player to have his uniform number retired; his July 4, 1939, farewell speech was voted by fans as the fifth-greatest moment in MLB history in 2002July 4, 1939 [110]
    The Lou Gehrig Memorial Trophy was awarded to the most valuable player in the annual Hearst Sandlot Classic.1946 - 1965 [110]
    A Lou Gehrig 25-cent postage stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service on the 50th anniversary of his retirement from baseball, depicting him both in profile and at bat (Scott number 2417)1989 [116]
    On the 70th anniversary of his farewell address in Yankee Stadium, MLB dedicated a day of remembrance to him and to the awareness of ALSJuly 4, 2009 [117]

    Film and other media

    Gehrig in the 1938 feature film Rawhide Gehrig in rawhide.jpg
    Gehrig in the 1938 feature film Rawhide

    Gehrig starred in the 1938 20th Century Fox movie Rawhide, playing himself in his only feature-film appearance. [118] At the beginning of the film, Gehrig spoke words which would soon take on a certain poignancy. He states that he is through with baseball. A journalist says that he'll miss the crowds, the cheering, the excitement. Gehrig replies: "That's just what I want to get away from. I had all of that. I'm going to wallow in peace and quiet for the rest of my life. I'm going to hang up my spikes for a swell old pair of carpet slippers." [119] In 2006, researchers presented a paper to the American Academy of Neurology, reporting on an analysis of Rawhide and photographs of Gehrig from the 1937–1939 period, to ascertain when he began to show visible symptoms of ALS. They concluded that while atrophy of hand muscles could be detected in 1939 photographs of him, no such abnormality was visible at the time Rawhide was shot in January 1938. "Examination of Rawhide showed that Gehrig functioned normally in January 1938," the report concluded. [120]

    Gehrig's life was the subject of the 1942 film The Pride of the Yankees , starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning Film Editing. Former Yankee teammates Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig, and Bill Dickey (then still an active player) played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern. In 2008, the AFI honored The Pride of the Yankees as the third-best sports movie. [121]

    "The Lou Gehrig Story", about the days leading up to his farewell speech, was also featured on an episode of the CBS anthology TV series Climax! on April 19, 1956, starring Wendell Corey and Jean Hagen. [122]

    The 1978 TV movie A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story starred Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann as Eleanor and 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 Jean Shepherd told of how he and his father 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 the elder Shepherd 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 to bat with a man on base, and the elder Shepherd 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 heckler's lap, for the eventual game-winning home run. Shepherd's father was booed mercilessly, and he never again took the younger Jean to a game. Shepherd apparently told this story originally when Gehrig's widow was in the audience at a speaking engagement. [123] [124] [125]

    Gehrig's digital likeness and the opening quote of the "baseball's Gettysburg Address" are featured in All Star Baseball 2004. [126]

    See also

    References

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    16. 1910; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York; Roll T624_1026; Page: 26B; Enumeration District: 683; Image: 431.
    17. 1920;Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 11, New York; Roll T625_1205; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 830; Image: 541.
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