Lou Gehrig

Henry Louis Gehrig (June 19 1903 — June 2 1941) was a Major League first baseman who played his entire career for the New York Yankees.

Gehrig was known as "The Iron Horse" for his durability. Between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games, a span of 14 years. The streak was broken after Gehrig became disabled with a fatal neuromuscular disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, that later became known as "Lou Gehrig's disease". His streak, once believed to be one of baseball's few unbreakable records, stood until shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles played in his 2,131st consecutive game on September 6, 1995.

Gehrig was also a phenomenal hitter, and batted in over 150 RBI's in seven different seasons, and had a lifetime batting average of .340.

Other nicknames given to Gehrig included "Columbia Lou", "Biscuit Pants" and "Larrupin' Lou".

Late in his career, Gehrig's hands were x-rayed, which showed that he had suffered 17 distinct fractures - some old, some new. It is a testament to his toughness; considering how battered his hands alone were, it is likely Gehrig's body was in poor shape throughout his career.

Life before professional baseball

Lou Gehrig was born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig in New York City, New York, the son of German immigrants Heinrich Gehrig and Christina Fack. His father was unemployed due to chronic illness epilepsy, so his mother was the breadwinner and disciplinarian. Both parents considered baseball to be a schoolyard game; his mother steered young Lou toward a career in architecture because an uncle in Germany was a financially successful architect. Gehrig attended Columbia University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Gehrig could not play intercollegiate baseball because he played baseball for a summer professional league during his freshman year. At the time, he was unaware that that jeopardized his eligibility to play any collegiate sport, but Gehrig was ruled eligible to play on the Lions' football team and was a standout fullback. Gehrig first garnered national attention for his baseball talents while playing in a game at Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field) on June 26, 1920. Gehrig's New York School of Commerce team was playing a team from Chicago's Lane Tech High School. With his team winning 8-6 in the eighth inning, Gehrig hit a grand slam completely out of the ballpark to seal the deal. As Gehrig's baseball exploits became the subject of more and more stories in newspapers, his mother began to see that her son might be able to make money as a baseball player. When both mother (double pneumonia) and father (epilepsy) became ill just as Gehrig was deciding whether to sign with the Yankees or stay at Columbia and graduate, he chose the Yankees and used most of his signing bonus to pay off their enormous medical bills. With the rest, he sent them on their very first vacation.

The Pride of the Yankees

Gehrig joined the Yankees midway through the 1923 season and made his debut on June 15, 1923 as a pinch hitter. Over his first two seasons Gehrig saw limited playing time, mostly as a pinch hitter — he played in only 23 games and was not on the Yankees' 1923 World Series roster. In 1925, he batted 437 times for a very respectable .295 batting average with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs.

1926 was Gehrig's breakout season. He batted .313 with 47 doubles, an American League leading 20 triples, 16 home runs, and 112 RBIs. In the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Gehrig hit .348 with two doubles and 4 RBI's. Still, the Cardinals won a seven-game Series, winning four games to three.

Gehrig established himself as a bona fide star in his own right despite playing in the omnipresent shadow of Babe Ruth. Gehrig's batting average was over .300 every season until 1938, his last full season. He had five seasons with more than 40 home runs and led the American League in RBIs five times; his 184 RBIs in 1931 is a league record that stands to this day.

Ruth and Gehrig

From 1923 to 1934, the Yankees had what many consider the best offensive tandem in the history of baseball: George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr. and Henry Louis Gehrig. Long after their deaths, the duo still holds records for combined hitting between two teammates.

Both men were prominent figures in America's growing German community. Outside of their prolific hitting there were few, if any, similarities between the two men. Ruth had been raised in an orphanage (sent there by his father, who couldn't control him), was very outspoken, arrogant, brash, and loved the lavish lifestyle his fame and money brought him.

By stark contrast, Gehrig was a quiet man who doted on his parents. It was not uncommon for his wife or his parents to accompany him on road trips with the team. While Ruth would spend his free time at clubs socializing, Gehrig typically remained in the team's hotel. Gehrig even went so far as to deny interviews to reporters he knew cheated on their wives, believing that any man who was unfaithful to his wife was beneath contempt.

Toward the end of Ruth's time with the Yankees, the two men completely stopped talking to one another. While the players and their wives were on a cruise ship, Gehrig lost track of his wife (the former Eleanor Twitchell) and, after scouring the ship, found her in Ruth's cabin. Although nothing untoward happened, Gehrig was incensed, due to Ruth's reputation as a known playboy. To make matters worse, Ruth insulted Gehrig's mother — a cardinal sin to Gehrig — after Mother Gehrig scolded Ruth's wife over what she saw as the neglect of the Ruths' youngest daughter. Ruth told Gehrig in no uncertain terms that his mother should mind her own business.

2,130

On June 1, 1925, Gehrig was sent in to pinch hit for light-hitting shortstop Paul "Pee Wee" Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp was in a slump, as were the Yankees as a team, so Huggins made several lineup changes to boost their performance. No one could have imagined that 14 years later Gehrig would still be there, playing day after day through injury and illness.

In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch hitting appearances; in others, the streak continued due to timing. Some examples:

On April 23, 1933, Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehall beaned Gehrig, knocking him nearly unconscious. Still, Gehrig recovered and was not removed from the game.
On June 14, 1933, Gehrig was ejected from the game, along with manager Joe McCarthy, but had already been at bat, so he got credit for playing the game.
On July 13, 1934, Gehrig suffered a lumbago seizure and had to be assisted off the field. The next day, he led off the game and was therefore recorded as the shortstop, even though he didn't actually take the field. Gehrig singled and was immediately replaced by a pinch runner to rest his throbbing back.

Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played stood until September 6, 1995, when Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game to establish a new record. The monumental event occurred in Baltimore, which shares some coincidences with the Yankees:

The Yankees were founded as the Baltimore Orioles (the current Orioles franchise operated as the St. Louis Browns from 1902 to 1953).
Gehrig's first major league game was against the St. Louis Browns.
Babe Ruth was a native of Baltimore.
The second base area of the playing field at the Orioles' current home park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, was the former location of the tavern owned by Babe Ruth's father, George Ruth, Sr.

“Something's wrong”

At the midpoint of the 1938 season, Gehrig's performance began to drastically diminish. At the end of that season, he said, "I tired midseason. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again." Eleanor was afraid it was caused by a brain tumor. Gehrig told her that he had been feeling the strength ebb away in his legs since his 30th birthday.

Gehrig had also become increasingly clumsy and weak, and would sometimes fall down in the locker room and on the field for no apparent reason. Most reporters and fans believed that it was due to the cumulative effect of injuries and the wear and tear of the streak, of the toll that 14 years of professional baseball had taken on his body. At age 35, however, Gehrig was still a relatively young man and his teammates thought that he had at least a couple of more seasons left in him. His final 1938 stats were well above the league averages: .295 batting average, 114 RBI, 170 hits, .523 slugging average, 758 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs. Ruth's statistics in his final playing years weren't much better — and Ruth wasn't dying.

After the season ended, Gehrig felt his strength and coordination slipping away. He went to a specialist in New York for the first time since the beginning of the slump. The specialist's "guess" was that Gehrig had a gall bladder condition. Eleanor didn't think this diagnosis made much sense, but Gehrig trusted the specialist. Either way, truth or not, Gehrig set his mind to recovering and remaining reliable for the Yankees. His loyalty was so great that when the Yankees cut his 1939 salary $3,000 from 1938's salary, Gehrig made no attempt to negotiate further.

When spring training began in 1939, Gehrig still did not have the strength he used to have. In true Gehrig fashion, he forced himself to train harder, but there was no improvement. His 1939 statistics were the lowest of his career: 8 games, 34 plate appearances, 4 hits, 1 RBI, and a .143 batting average. Even Gehrig's baserunning was affected. Throughout his career, Gehrig was considered a fearsome baserunner, but by 1939 he had so badly lost control of his muscles that even the simple task of running became a liability.

Reporters and fans continued to have their own guesses as to the cause of Gehrig's sudden statistical collapse. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, said in one article:

"I think there's something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don't know what it is. But I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers 'go' overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It's something deeper than that in this case, though.

"I have watched him very closely and this is what I have seen: I have seen him time a ball perfectly, swing on it as hard as he can, meet it squarely - and drive a soft, looping fly over the infield. In other words, for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn't there.... he is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn't going anywhere."

Bill Dickey, Gehrig's best friend and road roommate, knew before most that Gehrig was suffering some kind of physical problem. One day Gehrig could not open a bottle of ketchup, and Dickey had to do it for him — a man who could bench press hundreds of pounds could not take the cap off a bottle.

Joe McCarthy was facing increasing pressure from Yankee management to switch Gehrig to a part-time role, but he could not bring himself to do it. Things came to a head when Gehrig had to struggle to make a routine put-out at first base. The second baseman, Johnny Murphy, consistently had to wait for Gehrig to drag himself over to the bag so he could catch Murphy's throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou." That was the thing Gehrig dreaded — his teammates felt they had to congratulate him on simple chores like put-outs, like older brothers patting their little brother on the head.

On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the weak Washington Senators. Gehrig had just played his 2,130th consecutive major league game.

On May 2, the next game after a day off, Gehrig approached McCarthy before the game and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe." McCarthy acquiesced and put Ellsworth 'Babe' Dahlgren in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig wanted to play again the position was his. Gehrig himself took the lineup card out to the shocked umpires before the game.

A friend advised Eleanor to call Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her call was immediately transferred to Dr. Charles Mayo, who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Dr. Mayo told Eleanor to bring Gehrig as soon as possible. She agreed to convince Gehrig to go on one condition: that she be the first and only person given his full prognosis. Dr. Mayo hesitated, saying that policy was to only give full disclosure to the head of the household. Eleanor told him that she was the one who controlled the household finances, so she was the only head of the household.

Eleanor quickly arranged for Gehrig to fly to Rochester from Chicago, where the Yankees were at the time, and he arrived at Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. The first doctor to meet with Gehrig, Dr. Harold C. Habein, didn't even have to touch him. Dr. Habein took one look at Gehrig's walk and knew what was wrong from his gait and posture — it was the same disease that had killed Dr. Habein's own mother just months before, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr. Habein clearly remembered the distorted facial expression and shuffling walk of his mother, and Gehrig was showing the same symptoms.

Gehrig stayed at Mayo Clinic for the next six days, and on June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday, the diagnosis was confirmed. Per Eleanor's request, Mayo Clinic called her before telling Gehrig himself. She got the full prognosis: expect rapid paralysis, increasing trouble swallowing and speaking, no loss of mental ability, and a life expectancy of less than three years. Eleanor was told that the cause of ALS was unknown but it was painless, non-contagious and cruel — the nervous system was destroyed but the mind was intact. Victims are completely aware of their surroundings and of their physical wasting.

This was not the prognosis given to Gehrig himself, as Eleanor requested. He was told he had ALS but that there would not be any terrible impact on his life. For the three days following the diagnosis, Mayo staff took him fishing on the lakes surrounding Rochester to help him come to terms with his diagnosis before sending him back to Eleanor and his life. He was unaware that Eleanor knew more than he did. In a letter Gehrig wrote to "break the news" to Eleanor, he said (in part):

"The bad news is lateral sclerosis, in our language chronic infantile paralysis. There isn't any cure... there are very few of these cases. It is probably caused by some germ...Never heard of transmitting it to mates... There is a 50-50 chance of keeping me as I am. I may need a cane in 10 or 15 years. Playing is out of the question."

Perhaps, however, Gehrig knew he was dying. He was greeted by a group of Boy Scouts at the train station in Washington, where he caught up with the Yankees after his Mayo Clinic visit. The boys happily waved and wished him luck with the series. Gehrig waved back, but leaned forward to his companion, a reporter, and said, "They're wishing me luck - and I'm dying."

On June 21, the Yankees announced that Gehrig was retiring due to his illness, but would remain with the team as a captain.

“The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth”

The New York Yankees celebrated "Lou Gehrig Day" on July 4, 1939, between games of a holiday doubleheader against the Washington Senators. Dozens of people, including many from other major league teams, came forward to give Gehrig gifts and to shower praise on the dying slugger. The 1927 World Championship banner, from Gehrig's first World Series win, was raised on the flagpole, and the members of that championship team, known as "Murderer's Row", attended the ceremonies.

Babe Ruth was one of the notable speakers. During the twilight of Ruth's career, which coincided with Gehrig's rise, Ruth made snide remarks about the streak, saying that Gehrig needed to either sit on the bench or go fishing (a passion shared by both men). In his speech that day, Ruth suggested again that Gehrig go fishing, but it was an encouragement this day instead of a wisecrack. Joe McCarthy, whose relationship with Gehrig was almost a father-son bond, was apprehensive about speaking, because he knew if he started crying it would make it harder for Gehrig to get through the ceremony. McCarthy's most memorable line was when he assured Gehrig that he was never a burden to the team, no matter what Gehrig thought of himself.

The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number 4, making him the first player in history to be afforded that honor. Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques, and trophies. Some came from VIPs; others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. The Yankees gave him a silver trophy with their signatures engraved on it. Inscribed on the front was a special poem written by New York Times writer John Kieran. The trophy cost only about $5, but it became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions. ^*

After the presentations, Gehrig was asked if he wanted to speak. The shy, quiet Gehrig became nervous from emotion, and asked sportswriter Sid Mercer to speak on his behalf. Mercer told the crowd that Gehrig was too moved to speak himself, and Gehrig began to leave the field with McCarthy. The crowd rose to its feet and began to chant, over and over, "We want Gehrig!" Gehrig felt at that point he had to say something and he turned around to head back to home plate, which surprised McCarthy, who assisted him back to the microphones. Gehrig took a few moments to compose himself, then approached the microphone, and addressed the crowd:

"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 to ballparks for seventeen years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even 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 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 the 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, 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 by saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you."

The crowd stood and applauded for almost two minutes. Gehrig was visibly shaken as he stepped away from the microphone, and wiped the tears away from his face with his handkerchief. Babe Ruth came over and hugged him. Gehrig left the field, and did not calm down until he was home with Eleanor.

After Baseball

After Gehrig's retirement, Yankee executive Ed Barrow promised Gehrig that he and Eleanor would never have to do without money. By baseball rules at the time, Gehrig had the right to stay on the Yankee payroll until the end of the season because he had retired voluntarily (meaning his exit was not instigated by the Yankees or a baseball-related injury). This provision also meant that Gehrig would remain the property of the Yankees, the club with whom he last played. Gehrig attended some Yankee home games in 1939, although his ALS soon made it impossible for him to climb stairs. The Baseball Writers Association of America decided to waive the mandatory one-year waiting period for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for Gehrig. The group held a special vote during the 1939 winter meetings in Cincinnati, Ohio, electing Gehrig to the Hall of Fame on December 7, 1939 at age 36 and 5+ months. Even though Gehrig was the youngest member (at that time) ever elected, he was too ill to attend his induction ceremony.

When Gehrig was diagnosed, Mayo Clinic doctors had suggested he would fit well in an office-type position with the Yankees. By the end of the 1939 season, however, Barrow made it clear to Eleanor that "it was about time for him (Gehrig) to get himself another job." Both Gehrigs were upset - Lou was angry that a man for whom he had tremendous respect would speak that way to Eleanor, and Eleanor was bitter that a loyal Yankee like her husband would be pushed out so quickly. Eleanor maintained throughout her life that she never told Gehrig that ALS was fatal.

In October 1939, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia offered Gehrig a position as one of the city's three parole commissioners, and Gehrig accepted. LaGuardia was very happy with Gehrig's job performance. Gehrig worked with many poor and struggling people of all races, religions, and ages, some of whom would complain that they just "got a bad break." Gehrig never scolded them or preached about what a "bad break" really was. He visited New York City's correctional facilities, but insisted that they not be covered by news media. To avoid any appearance of self-praise, Gehrig made sure his listing on letterhead, directories, and publications read "Henry L. Gehrig." ^*

Gehrig went regularly to his office until about a month before his death, when it was clear his legs were unable to carry him anymore and his doctors told him to stop trying to walk. Gehrig refused a wheelchair, even when it was clear it was his only option for mobility. Gehrig was soon completely bedridden, and his condition rapidly deteriorated after that.

On June 2, 1941 at 10:10 p.m., 16 years to the day after he replaced Wally Pipp at first base, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in The Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale. News was immediately dispatched to Babe Ruth and his wife Claire, who lived on Riverside Drive on the upper west side of Manhattan. The Ruths immediately went to Riverdale to console Eleanor Gehrig. Lou Gehrig was waked in Riverdale during a pouring rain, and services were held at the Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale. The white house in which he lived stands to this day adjacent to the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and has a plaque stating that the house was occupied by Lou Gehrig. Mayor LaGuardia ordered flags to be flown at half-staff the day after Gehrig's death. On June 4, his body was cremated and interred at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. In an ironic coincidence, Lou Gehrig and Ed Barrow are both interred in the same section of Kensico Cemetery, which is next door to Gate of Heaven Cemetery, where Babe Ruth and Billy Martin are interred. The scheduled Yankee game for June 4 was postponed due to rain.

There is an interesting twist to the final resting place of Lou Gehrig. Although he was born in 1903, his headstone lists 1905 as his year of birth. This error has gone uncorrected for the last 64 years. Kensico Cemetery is aware of the mishap, but Gehrig's family never authorized the cemetery to change his year of birth from 1905 to 1903 on the grave marker. The cemetery cannot legally make the correction without a court order, and the year 1905 is likely to remain on the headstone ad infinitum. It is unknown why Gehrig's family never authorized Kensico Cemetery to make the correction. Eleanor Gehrig never remarried following Lou's death, and she joined him 43 years later in 1984. Eleanor Gehrig died on March 6, which was her birthday.

The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig on July 6, 1941. It calls him "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time." The monument gives the date of its dedication as "July the Fourth 1941", but that day was a rainout and the Yankees decided to dedicate the monument during a doubleheader the next Sunday, July 6. Gehrig's was the second monument to be placed in front of the center field flagpole in Yankee Stadium, following the one to Miller Huggins in 1932. The monument to Babe Ruth was dedicated in 1949, and the three stood in front of the flagpole until the stadium closed for renovations in 1973. Upon its reopening, the three monuments (Gehrig's on the left, Huggins' in the center, Ruth's on the right) were placed in front of a new flagpole, at top of which rests an actual bat used by Gehrig, now bronzed, in the stadium's Monument Park, where they still rest today.

Accomplishments: Records, Awards, and Distinctions

Career Statistics

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	SH	HBP	AVG	OBP	SLG
2164	8,001	2,721	534	163	493	1,888	1,995	1,508	790	106	45	.340	.447	.632

Major League Baseball Career Records

Grand slams: 23
Runs batted in by a first baseman: 1,995
Consecutive seasons, 120+ RBI: 8 (1927-1934)
Seasons, 100+ RBI: 13 (1926-1938; tied with Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx)
Consecutive seasons, 100+ RBI: 13 (1926-1938; tied with Jimmie Foxx)
Runs scored by a first baseman: 1,888
Highest on-base percentage by a first baseman: .442
Most bases on balls by a first baseman: 1,508
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman: .632
Most extra base hits by a first baseman: 1190

Major League Baseball Single Season Records

Runs-batted-in by a first baseman: 184 (1931; also the American League record)
Runs scored by a first baseman: 167 (1936)
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman: 0.765 (1927)
Extra Base Hits, by a first baseman: 117 (1927)
Most total bases by a first baseman: 447 (1927)

Major League Baseball Single Game Records

Home Runs: 4 (June 3, 1932, vs. Philadelphia Athletics, at Shibe Park) (held with 14 other players)

Awards

Inducted to National Baseball Hall of Fame: 1939
League MVP: 1927 (award discontinued, and usually not considered a true MVP award)
American League MVP: 1936 (voted on by Baseball Writers Association of America; runner-up in voting for this award in 1931 and 1932)
Named to seven All-Star teams (1933-1939). (All-Star Game began in 1933)
Ranked #6 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, chosen in 1999.
Named starting first baseman on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team (1999) - Gehrig got more votes for the team than any other player
July 4, 1939 farewell speech is voted by fans as the fifth greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002. The number one moment is Cal Ripken, Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record.

Distinctions

Triple Crown of hitting in 1934 (.363 batting average, 49 home runs, 165 RBI)
Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons (1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936)
With Stan Musial, the only player to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 400 home runs in a career
One of only six players (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams) to end their career with a minimum .320 batting average, 350 home runs, and 1,500 RBI
Only player to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season in three different seasons (1927, 1930, 1934)
Played in 27 World Series games
Scored game-winning run in 8 World Series games
Hit a MLB record 23 grand slam home runs in his career
The first Major League Baseball player to have his uniform number retired
Held the record for most consecutive games played from August 17, 1933 (passing Everett Scott with 1,308) until September 6, 1995 (when Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game)
Had 13 consecutive seasons (1926-1938) with 100 or more RBI

Aside from the statistical achievements, Lou Gehrig also stands as an important historical connection. When Gehrig began playing, players like Ty Cobb and Eddie Collins were still playing. Even players who had started their careers very near the turn of the century, like Frank Chance, and Tris Speaker were managing. When Gehrig left the game, young stars like Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, and Ted Williams were starting their own prolific careers. Thus, Gehrig got to play with and against some of the greats of the game.

On film

The Pride of the Yankees, a 1942 film about Gehrig's life, featured Gary Cooper as Lou and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 Academy Award nominations, but only garnered one win. Real-life Yankees Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig and Bill Dickey, then still an active player, played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern. The film incorrectly suggests that Gehrig did not play at all until the 1925 season, when his streak began. He did play briefly in the 1923 and 1924 seasons, although he was not on the World Series roster in 1923. The film also alters his farewell speech, with the "luckiest man" line coming at the end, rather than the beginning. In a famous scene, Gehrig visits a crippled boy named Billy (Gene Collins) in a hospital and promises to hit two home runs for him in a single World Series game; Gehrig successfully fulfills his promise, and an older Billy attends Lou Gehrig Day and shows Gehrig that he can walk without a limp, as if the illness had never happened.

The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, a 1978 made-for-TV film based on Eleanor's memoir My Luke and I ("Luke" being one of Gehrig's nicknames), starred Edward Herrmann and Lou and Blythe Danner as Eleanor. This film took a more serious look, suggesting that Gehrig often clashed with his German-immigrant mother (played here by Jane Wyatt), showing that Eleanor and her mother-in-law had a strained relationship (mirroring that of another Edward Herrmann role, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who also had a wife named Eleanor and a domineering mother), and revealing the rift between Gehrig and Ruth (also a German-American who spoke German fluently; Ruth was played by Ramon Bieri). The film also goes where The Pride of the Yankees does not, past the farewell address, and shows Lou dying, completely paralyzed. But since, unlike the earlier movie, it is Eleanor's story as much as Lou's, it manages to be both less fanciful and just as romantic. David Ogden Stiers, who had just taken up the role of an Army doctor on M*A*S*H, plays another doctor here, Charles Mayo of Mayo Clinic, who diagnoses the disease that now bears Lou's name.

Baseball broadcaster and historian Bob Costas has commented, "In one area, Lou Gehrig has it all over Babe Ruth. The movies about Gehrig are pretty good. The movies about Ruth are all lousy." Gehrig was played by Richard Travis in The Babe Ruth Story (1948), Neal McDonough in Babe Ruth (1991) and Michael McGrady in The Babe (1992).

External links

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