The Disease That Was Named After New York First Baseman Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig was a first baseman for the team that wears the pinstripes.

When? From 1923-1939.

During his career Gehrig scored over 100 runs and drove in over 100 runs for 13 straight seasons. He led the American League in runs 4 times, home runs three times, runs-batted in five times, on-base percentage five times, and batting average once. He finished among the league’s top three hitters seven times. He racked up eight 200-plus hit seasons.”according to https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou

In 1931, he set the AL single-season RBI mark with 185 - hitting behind Ruth, who knocked in 162 of his own. One wonders who was left on base for Gehrig to bring home. His 1934 triple-crown season was remarkable, as he hit .363, knocked 49 home runs, and drove in 166 runs.”according to https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou

He was the All-Star first baseman for the first seven All-Star teams, from 1933-39, though he retired just shy of the 1939 game. During his 17 seasons, the Yankees won seven pennants and six World Series. Gehrig’s World Series contributions include a .361 batting average, 10 home runs, and 35 RBI in 34 games.”according to https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou

Though his consecutive games streak came to an end on May 2, 1939, when he removed himself from the lineup after a dismal start caused by his mysterious neuromuscular disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, later known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” “according to https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou

What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis? is an incurable fatal neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness, resulting in paralysis. The disease attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons, which control the movement of voluntary muscles, deteriorate and eventually die. When the motor neurons die, the brain can no longer initiate and control muscle movement. Because muscles no longer receive the messages they need in order to function, they gradually weaken and deteriorate. “according to https://www.lougehrig.com/als/

After his diagnosis Lou Gehrig made his famous speech.

“For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the 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 a fine looking men as they’re standing in uniform in this ballpark today? 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.”

– Lou Gehrig “according to https://www.lougehrig.com/farewell/

Gehrig was the Yankee captain from 1935 until his death in 1941 at the age of 37. . In 1969, he was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball Writers Association of America. In 1989, on the 50th anniversary of the end of his streak, he was honored with a United States postage stamp. In 1999, he was the leading vote-getter for Major League Baseball’s All Century Team.https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou