Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. So said a fictional version of Babe Ruth in the 1993 film The Sandlot.
Lou Gehrig, undoubtedly, belongs in the latter category. Stricken by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, the Yankee slugger died on June 2, 1941 at the age of 37. His was a story reminiscent of A.E. Housman’s poem To An Athlete Dying Young.
An editorial in the New York Herald Tribune stated, “Facing with a simple courage the appalling disease which was to kill him, he made, in the final years of his life, one of the best parole commissioners New York Has had. He had a knack for the friendly kindness which such a task requires.”
Associated Press’s obituary described Gehrig as “a big, handsome dimple-cheeked fellow who always looked the picture of health. He stood 6-feet-1 inch and weighed 205 pounds. Playing every game became a fetish with him and because of this, or because of his naturally careful habit, he trained more faithfully than almost any other player in the major leagues.”
Gehrig contrasted teammate Ruth, he of the gargantuan appetite for life’s sensual pleasures. In his 2012 book Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees From Before the Babe To After the Boss, Marty Appel wrote, “He was Ruth without drama, Ruth without nightlife, Ruth without scandal. He lived with his parents. He said things like ‘swell’ and ‘gosh.’ He had muscles to spare when players did no weight training and tended to be lean and lithe. He could read and write in German. Lou Gehrig would become the idol of every boy who loved baseball for his quiet presence, clean standards, and heroic deeds. He was polite and humble. He would park his car three blocks from Yankee Stadium to avoid notice.”
Although Gehrig played a handful of games in 1923 and 1924, he began his trek toward legend status on June 1, 1925, when he played in the first of 2,130 consecutive games, which earned him the nickname “Iron Man.” It was an era of Yankee dominance; during Gehrig’s career, the Bronx Bombers racked up seven American League titles and six World Series championships.
Gehrig’s output earmarked the Yankee lineup as fearsome—.340 career batting average, leading the major leagues in RBI four times, and 23 grand slams. And that’s just a sample of the thunder that Gehrig created with his bat. In 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr. broke Gehrig’s streak record. Alex Rodriguez has surpassed Gehrig in grand slams.
On July 4, 1939, the Yankees hosted Lou Gehrig Day. It is best remembered, perhaps, for Gehrig declaring that he’s the “luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
In a 2003 article for mlb.com, Mark Newman opined about Gehrig’s statistics if ALS hadn’t struck him. “Conservatively speaking, it would have been reasonable to project another 500 hits, 350 runs, 90 doubles, 30 triples, 100 homers, 350 RBIs and 300 walks in those three years,” wrote Newman. “He would have passed Ty Cobb as the all-time leader in runs scored. He would have been around the 600-homer mark. He would be the all-time leader in RBIs, not Hank Aaron.”
Gehrig’s death prompted the nickname “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” for ALS.
A version of this article appeared on www.thesportspost.com on June 2, 2016.