Gehrig
Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:24 pm
The other day, my nine year old grandson asked me if I ever saw Babe Ruth. The remark was similar to an Andy Nolan crack, but my grandson was earnest. I told him no, but I would have loved to have seen him play, and especially, hit.
We went to the library and checked out the first autobiography that I had read as a youth.
Lou Gehrig.
I asked him to read it and that in reading it, he would find out more about Babe Ruth.
Privately, I wanted him to know about Lou Gehrig first.
The letters written to his doctor and wife while battling ALS show the true measure of this man. The letters are (were?) shown on ESPN.com. Lou Gehrig, the man, surely, exceeded the stature of his own statistics.
They are a must-read.
For those that saw 'Pride of the Yankees' and think they know Gehrig's speech, you don't. Here it is, in its entirety...
"Fans, for the past two weeks, you have been reading about a bad break I got, Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men (Yankee teammates). Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his( almost all attendees of games then, were men) career just to associate with them for just one day? Sure, I'm lucky.
Who wouldn't have considered it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrows? 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 grounds keeper and those boys with white coats remember you with trophies, that's something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, that is 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 may have had a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for."
The speech was given on July 4, 1939. Earlier that same year, his 2,130 consecutive game streak ended. As noted in the speech, two weeks prior, it became public that he had ALS. Less than two years later, he passed.
Gehrig's numbers litter the record books. Here are some facts and records that are not so easy to find.
His jersey, number four, was the first uniform retired in the history of Professional American sports.
He was offered in a trade to the Red Sox in 1925, the Red Sox turned it down.
With his career nearly over and still seeking a diagnosis for his ailments. Gehrig and doctors discovered through x-rays, that he had had 17 bones broken in his hands that were healed over without Gehrig stopping to treat them.
It was said his consecutive streak of games would never be broken. Gehrig holds a dubious mark which really will probably never be broken.
Gehrig attempted 203 stolen bases during his career. He was successful on 102 of those chances. A 50.2% success rate. Ironically, the player closest to him in this failure of thievery was Babe Ruth who was 123-240 in his career. Or 51.3 percent.
If you're a box score nut, look at June 3, 1932. In this game, teammate Tony Lazzeri hit for the cycle and stole a base. During the same game, Lou Gehrig became the first American Leaguer to hit four homers in one game. The Yankees won 20-13.
Par for the course, Gehrig would receive no banner headlines the next day. John McGraw, one of the greatest Managers in baseball history chose that day to retire and grabbed all headlines the next day.
Gehrig probably never noticed.
[ June 25, 2010, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]
We went to the library and checked out the first autobiography that I had read as a youth.
Lou Gehrig.
I asked him to read it and that in reading it, he would find out more about Babe Ruth.
Privately, I wanted him to know about Lou Gehrig first.
The letters written to his doctor and wife while battling ALS show the true measure of this man. The letters are (were?) shown on ESPN.com. Lou Gehrig, the man, surely, exceeded the stature of his own statistics.
They are a must-read.
For those that saw 'Pride of the Yankees' and think they know Gehrig's speech, you don't. Here it is, in its entirety...
"Fans, for the past two weeks, you have been reading about a bad break I got, Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men (Yankee teammates). Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his( almost all attendees of games then, were men) career just to associate with them for just one day? Sure, I'm lucky.
Who wouldn't have considered it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrows? 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 grounds keeper and those boys with white coats remember you with trophies, that's something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, that is 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 may have had a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for."
The speech was given on July 4, 1939. Earlier that same year, his 2,130 consecutive game streak ended. As noted in the speech, two weeks prior, it became public that he had ALS. Less than two years later, he passed.
Gehrig's numbers litter the record books. Here are some facts and records that are not so easy to find.
His jersey, number four, was the first uniform retired in the history of Professional American sports.
He was offered in a trade to the Red Sox in 1925, the Red Sox turned it down.
With his career nearly over and still seeking a diagnosis for his ailments. Gehrig and doctors discovered through x-rays, that he had had 17 bones broken in his hands that were healed over without Gehrig stopping to treat them.
It was said his consecutive streak of games would never be broken. Gehrig holds a dubious mark which really will probably never be broken.
Gehrig attempted 203 stolen bases during his career. He was successful on 102 of those chances. A 50.2% success rate. Ironically, the player closest to him in this failure of thievery was Babe Ruth who was 123-240 in his career. Or 51.3 percent.
If you're a box score nut, look at June 3, 1932. In this game, teammate Tony Lazzeri hit for the cycle and stole a base. During the same game, Lou Gehrig became the first American Leaguer to hit four homers in one game. The Yankees won 20-13.
Par for the course, Gehrig would receive no banner headlines the next day. John McGraw, one of the greatest Managers in baseball history chose that day to retire and grabbed all headlines the next day.
Gehrig probably never noticed.
[ June 25, 2010, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]