"Lou Gehrig - The Iron Man"

By Jerry Stewart

EACH YEAR, AS EACH NEW BASEBALL SEASON ROLLS AROUND, I FIND MYSELF PULLING OUT THE OLD BASEBALL CARDS I COLLECTED IN THE 50'S AND 60'S AND THUMBING THROUGH MY FAVORITES. MICKEY MANTLE, TED WILLIAMS, STAN MUSIAL, EDDIE MATTHEWS, HANK AARON. THOSE WERE GREAT DAYS TO WATCH BASEBALL.

BUT, IN MY STUDIES OF FAMOUS AMERICANS, I HAVE COME TO HAVE THE HIGHEST RESPECT AND REGARD FOR ONE VERY SPECIAL MAN - MR. LOU GEHRIG.

ANYBODY WHO HAS FOLLOWED THE GAME OF BASEBALL HAS HEARD OF THE NAME LOU GEHRIG. OF ALL THE PLAYERS IN BASEBALL HISTORY I THINK ITS SAFE TO SAY THAT NO PLAYER POSSESSED SO MUCH REAL NATURAL TALENT AS LOU GEHRIG. BUT IT WASN’T JUST HIS UNBELIEVABLE TALENT THAT MADE AMERICANS LOVE HIM – IT WAS HIS GREAT ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY AND HIS BRAVERY.

FROM YEARS 1925 TO 1939 LOU GEHRIG WAS ONE OF THE MOST FEARED BATTERS IN BASEBALL. AND EVEN THOUGH HE PLAYED IN THE SHADOW OF BASEBALL LEGEND, BABE RUTH, IN MANY WAYS LOU GEHRIG WAS EVEN A GREATER PLAYER THAN THE BABE. HIS LIFETIME BATTING AVERAGE WAS .340. HE AVERAGED 147 RBI’S PER SEASON, AND GEHRIG’S 184 RBI’S IN 1931 REMAINS THE HIGHEST SINGLE SEASON TOTAL IN AMERICAN LEAGUE HISTORY.

AND NOT ONLY COULD HE HIT. DESPITE HIS TOWERING SIZE, HE STOLE HOME 15 TIMES IN HIS CAREER. AND HE NEVER QUIT PLAYING. HE PLAYED IN 2,130 CONSECUTIVE GAMES AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE "IRON HORSE". AND HE PLAYED WELL EVERY DAY, DESPITE ALL KINDS OF INJURIES. IN FACT, LATER IN HIS CAREER, GEHRIG’S HANDS WERE X-RAYED AND DOCTORS WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY 17 DIFFERENT FRACTURES IN HIS HANDS ALONE – BUT HE NEVER STOPPED.

HIS BATTING AVERAGE IN A WHOPPING 34 WORLD SERIES GAMES WAS .361 WITH 10 HOMERS, 8 DOUBLES, AND 35 RBI’S. HE ALSO HOLDS THE RECORD FOR CAREER GRAND SLAM HOME RUNS AT 23. WOW!

BUT, WAS IT LOU GEHRIG’S TALENT ALONE THAT MADE MILLIONS OF HIS FANS LOVE AND RESPECT HIM? NO. THEY LOVED HIM FOR WHO HE WAS AS A PERSON. HE WAS A KIND AND GENTLE MAN, AND FOR THOSE WHO KNEW HIM, THEY SAID HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST HUMBLE PEOPLE THEY HAD EVER KNOWN. WHEN ASKED ONCE HOW HE GOT ALONG PLAYING IN THE SHADOW OF BABE RUTH, HE DIDN’T SPOUT BACK ANY OF HIS OWN IMPRESSIVE STATISTICS. HE SIMPLY SAID, "YEAH, THE SHADOW THAT BABE RUTH CAST WAS A MIGHTY BIG SHADOW". LOU GEHRIG WAS A VERY MODEST MAN.

BUT, HERE’S WHERE LOU GEHRIG SHOWED HIS TRUE CHARACTER. IN 1939, AT ONLY THE AGE OF 36, STILL IN THE PRIME OF HIS CAREER, HE WAS STRUCK WITH A TERRIBLE DISEASE, AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCHLEROSIS, ALS, WHICH HAS NOW COME TO BE KNOWN AS LOU GEHRIG DISEASE, AND HE NEVER PLAYED BASEBALL AGAIN. BUT DID HE WHINE AND CRY AND FEEL

SORRY FOR HIMSELF? NO. ON JULY 4^TH, 1939 IN FRONT OF 62,000 FANS IN YANKEE STADIUM AND LITERALLY MILLIONS LISTENING BY RADIO ALL ACROSS AMERICA HE GAVE THE MOST AMAZING SPEECH IN SPORTS HISTORY.

HE SAID THIS: "FANS, FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS YOU HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT THE BAD BREAK I GOT. YET TODAY, I CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE THE LUCKIEST MAN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH".

WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE MAN. AND WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE AMERICAN STORY. LOU GEHRIG HAD A VISION FOR HIMSELF AND AMERICA, AND TO THIS DAY, TENS OF MILLIONS OF BASEBALL FANS REMEMBER AND HONOR AND LOVE LOU GEHRIG.