Luckiest Man. Lou Gehrig. July 4, 1939.

[shockball]

Quote
"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and 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 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 may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

[Shockerman]

I love that speech...Hard to imagine any current Yank with that much class.

[t7017s]

I hate the yankees. But i have to say that Jeter is about as classy as your going to find in professional sports these days. I love the guy he understands the game and isnt all about me. Ive never heard anything but fond words about him off the field. Hes a guy I dont think anyone would mind their son looking up to.

[shockandawe08]

I loved that movie....who was in that? Gary Cooper and June Allyson? Or Jimmy Stewart and somebody...? Jeez. At my age, forty - (cough) something, my brain can only hold SO much info apparently. Black and white baseball movies.... :good: Ted Turner, back off. :-x

[shox8498]

I hate the yankees. But i have to say that Jeter is about as classy as your going to find in professional sports these days. I love the guy he understands the game and isnt all about me. Ive never heard anything but fond words about him off the field. Hes a guy I dont think anyone would mind their son looking up to.

I agree.....it's difficult to reconcile my hatred for the NYY with individual players. I didn't fully realize it until you mentioned it, but it's absolutely true.......maybe it's because the spotlight has been so focused on A-Rod or something like that, but outside of NY, you really don't see Jeter getting all that much camera time these days.

I have to look far and wide for anyone who I have ever liked who also wore a Yankee uniform....Thurman Munson also comes to mind, but sadly he never had time to tell everyone how fortunate he was before he died in a plane crash in '79 or '80.........

[Snapshot9]

The first Iron Man of baseball - Lou held the record for the most consecutive games played prior to Ripken Jr. breaking it. He played 2130 consecutive games from 1925 to 1939 (15 years). He was a left handed first baseman.

He holds the record for the most career grand slam home runs with 23. He won the American League MVP twice (1927 and 1936). He finished with a triple crown of hitting in 1934 (led the league in batting average, HR and RBI). He had a lifetime batting average of .340.

He retired early from baseball after being diagnosed with amyotrohic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is now referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. You can also watch a film about the disease itself with Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter called The Theory of Flight.

Gehrig is often regarded as the greatest first basemen ever to play Major League Baseball and holds the highest slugging percentage for a first basemen in a career. While playing for the Yankees, he was teamed up with Babe Ruth. Ruth hit third in the line up and Gerhig hit fourth. It's said that Babe Ruth - often considered the greatest player to play baseball - was never intentionally walked during the years that Gehrig was on the team - because that'd be putting a guy on for Gehrig to drive in, and they'd have rather taken their chances with Ruth.

The movie Pride of the Yankees is based on Gehrig's life from college to his famous "luckiest man on earth" speech. Gary Cooper played the role of Gehrig - and Babe Ruth was still alive and played himself in the movie.

[SubGod22]

Babe Ruth wanted to be in that movie so badly that he lost something like 50 pounds to get back into his playing shape out of respect for Gehrig. I've always despised the Yanks but Gehrig is one of my favorites. And considering that it's speculated that he played the final few years of his career with ALS, I still find his streak much more impressive than Ripkens