Gehrig, "Lou" (Henry Louis)
Baseball
b. June 19, 1903, New York, NY
d. June 2, 1941
A high school star in baseball, basketball, football, and soccer, Gehrig played minor league baseball under an assumed name during the summer of 1921, before entering Columbia University. He played for the Columbia baseball team as a freshman, then was declared ineligible because his season as a professional was revealed.
New York Yankee scout Paul Krichell, who saw him hit a tremendous home run out of Columbia Stadium and onto the steps of Butler Library, across the street, told the team he'd found another Babe Ruth. Gehrig signed with the Yankees in 1923 and spent most of his first two professional seasons in the minor leagues.
In 1925, he was a backup with the Yankees until first baseman Wally Pipp took himself out of the lineup because of a headache. Gehrig took over and went on to establish a major league record of 2,130 consecutive games, winning the nickname the "Iron Horse."
Quiet and unassuming, Gehrig was one of the great RBI men in major league history, but he played in Ruth's shadow for many years. He led the league in triples with 20 in 1926, in doubles with 52 and RBI with 175 in 1927, in doubles with 47, RBI with 142 and slugging percentage with .467 in 1928. The Yankees won the pennant and World Series each year. Gehrig was named the league's most valuable player in 1927, although that was the season Ruth hit 60 home runs.
Gehrig led in RBI again with 174 in 1930 and 184 in 1931, when he hit 46 home runs to share the lead with Ruth. Gehrig was deprived of a 47th home run when he was called out for passing another runner on the base paths.
On June 3, 1932, Gehrig became the first twentieth century player to hit four consecutive home runs in a game. In 1934, Ruth's last season with the Yankees, Gehrig won the triple crown with a .363 average, 49 home runs, and 165 RBI. He won his second most valuable player award in 1936, when he again led with 49 home runs and 130 RBI and was also the league leader with 167 runs scored.
Early in the 1939 season, Gehrig was obviously below par. He had lost weight and seemed slow and clumsy at bat and in the field. On May 2, he told manager Joe McCarthy that it was time to take a rest. No one knew it at the time, but his career was over. In June, it was discovered that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a hardening of the spinal cord, now often known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."
On July 4, 1939, the Yankees held a day in his honor. Yankee Stadium was packed with 61,808 fans, who heard Gehrig say, "I may have been given a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for. With all this, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." He died less than two years later.
The 6-foot, 200-pound Gehrig, who batted and threw left handed, played in 2,164 major league games. He hit .340 with 2,721 hits, including 534 doubles, 163 triples, and 493 home runs. Gehrig drove in 1,995 runs and scored 1,888.