When I lived in New Jersey, I watched Pride of the Yankees nearly every year around this time and teared up every time, almost as if I somehow expected the ending to be different each time I watched.
Heck, if I even hear this song in a mall or a store somewhere, I have to bite my lip to stop the waterworks.
Anyway, a great baseball player and legend, as some of the following stories will attest, some of the details of Gehrig's life and the story behind the speech and the movie make the legend even more remarkable. Some of them I was not even aware of ie: Gehrig's unanimous entrance into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. Maybe they do have a heart after all.
Contrary to Charles Barkley's admonition that athletes should not be role models, examples like Gehrig would seem to be an exception to that rule. This guy personified the virtues of class, grace, dignity, integrity, strength and courage. Not a bad combination. Gehrig's farewell speech is lauded by some as one of the greatest speeches of all time, not just baseball speeches, and I would agree with that assessment 100%.
All you have to know about the man is personified within the speech. The reasons he articulated as to why he felt he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth; his great relationship with the Yankee fans, teammates and competitors, his relationship with his parents and in-laws, and most notably the strength and courage he felt he received from his wife, who was portrayed heroically in Pride of the Yankees. If you needed any further confirmation, it is displayed in how those people felt about him.
RIP Lou Gehrig and kudos to MLB for highlighting not only his great speech, but for giving us the opportunity to go back and focus on the details of his great life. After all, those details are the biggest reason his death was such a great tragedy. A treasure to the game who was taken from us way too soon. That is always a tragedy, whatever the cause.
"He was a symbol of indestructibility - a Gibraltar in cleats." - Columnist, Jim Murray
from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given annually to the MLB player best exhibiting the integrity and character of Gehrig, was named in the first baseman's honor.
"The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"
After the presentations and remarks by Babe Ruth, Gehrig addressed the crowd:—Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939[58] 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.[57] Babe Ruth came over and hugged him as a band played "I Love You Truly" and the crowd chanted "We love you, Lou." The New York Times account the following day called it "one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field", that made even hard-boiled reporters "swallow hard."[53]
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- Lou Gehrig
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- Nicknamed "Iron Horse"
- Only one of four children to survive infancy
- Attended Columbia University on football scholarship; studied engineering
- Record 2,130 consecutive game streak; broken by Cal Ripken, Jr, in 1995
- Late in his career doctors xrayed his hands, discovered 17 fractures that had "healed" without Gehrig stopping to treat them
- Topped .300 batting average for 12 years in a row
- In 1925, Yankees offered to trade Gehrig to Boston Red Sox for first baseman Phil Todt; Red Sox turned the Yankees down
- First American Leaguer to hit four home runs in a game (1932)
- Holds record for career grand slams (23)
- Twice named American League MVP, in 1927 and 1936
- Developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now called Lou Gehrig’s disease
- Joined New York's Parole Board to help troubled youths
- Jersey #4 – 1st jersey number retired in American professional sports
In December 1939, the Baseball Writers Association waived their usual five-year waiting period and unanimously elected Gehrig to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gehrig then took a job with the New York City Parole Commission. He rarely visited Yankee Stadium because it was too painful to see the game he missed so much. Gehrig died on June 2, 1941 in New York City, exactly 16 years after he had permanently replaced Pipp in the Yankees lineup.
The following year, movie producer Samuel Goldwyn released "Pride of the Yankees," a Gehrig biography with Gary Cooper in the lead role and Babe Ruth appearing as himself. It became one of the most popular baseball movies ever made.
Little understood then, ALS became more well-known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Its high-profile victim brought it attention, research, and understanding. The incurable disease strikes about 5,000 Americans each year; most die within two to five years. It is the only major disease named after one of its victims. David Noonan of Sports Illustrated noted the irony that "one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived is best known for the way he died."
Gehrig wipes tears during his retirement ceremony.
A retirement party like no other in history
July 4, 1939. More widely celebrated as Independence Day in America. But at Yankee Stadium, approximately 62,000* people were celebrating Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, Gehrig's official retirement gala.
The doctors of Mayo Clinic had released his ALS diagnosis to the public on June 19, 1939. Since then there was an public push to honor Gehrig. The idea of an appreciation day reportedly began with Bill Hirsch, a friend of sports columnist Bill Corum. Corum spoke of the idea in his column, and other sportswriters picked up on the idea, promoting it far in wide in their respective periodicals. Someone(s) suggested the appreciation day be held during the All-Star Game, but when Yankees owner Ed Barrow got a hold of the idea, he quickly shot down the All-Star Game suggestion. He didn't want Gehrig to share the spotlight with any other all-star. Believing the idea was valid and the best thing to do, he wanted the appreciation day to be soon, and that day turned out to be July 4, when the Yankees were playing a doubleheader against the Washington Senators.
The public was ecstatic, and former Yankees, namely the '27 team, from every nook of the country vowed to be there for Gehrig on his big day. Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day ended up being Gehrig'sretirement party.
In attendance were Mom and Pop Gehrig, Eleanor Gehrig (wife), and all the 1939 Yankees with manager Joe McCarthy. Other guests included Bob Meusel, Bob Shawkey, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Joe Dugan, Mark Koenig, Benny Bengough, Tony Lazzeri, Arthur Fletcher, Earle Combs, Wally Schang, Wally Pipp, Everett Scott, New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, US Postmaster General James A. Farley, and the New York baseball
During the first game, Gehrig stayed in the Yankee dugout anxiously awaiting the ceremony that would take place at home plate at the end of the game. Similarly Joe McCarthy was fretting over the words he would say to Gehrig during the ceremony. Neither man thought himself articulate, and neither looked forward to having so many eyes on them. Whereas Gehrig decided to do the best he could with the impending ceremony, McCarthy was so nervous he became irritable. But he still had presence of mind enough to notice how frail Gehrig looked, and he pulled some of the Yankees players aside and told them to watch Gehrig during the ceremony in case he should start to collapse.
Finally the first game was over and workers set up a hive of microphones behind home plate. The Yankee players of the current year and yesteryear lined up along the foul lines. Gehrig was placed near the microphones. A line of well-wishers from various occupations and fame came to the mics to say sweet, sweet things to Gehrig and about Gehrig. Some tears escaped from his eyes while he nervously, humbly hung his head and made a small circle of impressions in the dirt with his spikes. He took every word said to heart.
Ruth was one of the notable speakers. Back in the early '30s, when Ruth's prowess was dwindling while Gehrig's was ever-increasing, Ruth had made derogatory remarks about Gehrig's consecutive games streak, suggesting that Gehrig needed to learn to sit on the bench or go fishing (one of their common loves). In his speech on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, Ruth again suggested Gehrig pursue fishing, but this time he was trying to encourage Gehrig rather than shame him.McCarthy came to the mics to say his piece with limbs trembling just as much as Gerhig's.
Despite his uneasiness, McCarthy was as heartfelt as he could manage, fighting the urge to bawl like a baby out of respect to Gehrig's shaky emotions. Because McCarthy and Gehrig were very close, almost a father-son relationship, McCarthy knew that if he started crying it would probably make things that much worse for Gehrig trying to get through the ceremony. The most memorable part of his speech was when he assured Gehrig that no matter what Gehrig thought of himself, he was never a hindrance to the team.
Gehrig was given a number of presents, commemorative plaques, and trophies. Some came from the big-wig people; and, touching, some came from folks of the Stadium's janitorial service
The most talked about present Gehrig received was a silver trophy with all the Yankee players' signatures on it presented by McCarthy. Inscribed on the front was a poem the Yankees had asked Times writer
"We've been to the wars together,
We took our foes as they came;
And always you were the leader,
And ever you played the game.
Idol of cheering millions;
Records are yours by sheaves;
Iron of frame they hailed you,
Decked you with laurel leaves.
But higher than that we hold you,
We who have known you best;
Knowing the way you came through
Every human test.
Let this be a silent token
Of lasting friendship's gleam
And all that we've left unspoken.
- Your Pals on the Yankee Team"
This trophy, though valued in 1941 to be worth $5, was one of Gehrig's most prized possessions.
When it was Gehrig's turn to speak, he became very flustered from emotion and fear. Initially he had Sid Mercer speak on his behalf. "Lou has asked me," Mercer said into the mics, "to thank all of you. He is too moved to speak." With that, Gehrig started to walk off the field with McCarthy escorting him, and the microphones were about to be disassembled. But the crowd rose to its feet and chanted emphatically, "We want Gehrig!" And Gehrig knew he had to say something, so he turned around and headed to the plate. McCarthy was surprised by the reversal of decision and saw him to the plate. The workers undid any disassembling they had started and backed off for Gehrig to slide in behind the mics. The crowd cheered loudly as Gehrig mustered up the courage to face his fear of speaking to so many people while experiencing so much emotion. He held up his hand to request silence from the crowd and began to speak - without notes - what would be the most famous baseball player retirement speech in history.
His speech, according to his wife, was as follows:
"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 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 against her own daughter - that's something.
When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education
So I close in saying that I might have had a tough break; but I have an awful lot to live for."
He began to back away, then remembered his manners and quickly added, "Thank you."
Applause, applause, applause, for nearly two minutes. Gehrig was visible shaken as he stepped back from the mics. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the tears away. Babe Ruth came over to hug him. And the emotions continued for Gehrig. He would not settle down until he had his wife with him within the safe, private confines of their home.
His speech has often been called the Gettysburg Address of baseball. Eleanor Gehrig revealed in her autobiography that he had spent the previous night working on his speech, writing it down, but never rehearsed it "because it was simple enough and agonizing enough and he was still shy enough, groping for some way to phrase the emotions that usually were kept securely locked up."
His career was officially over, but that didn't stop him from setting milestones. Gehrig was the first player of any sport to have his jersey number retired. Gehrig was also the first baseball player to have Cooperstown look the other way when it came to the mandatory waiting period*sources differ on the number of fans in attendance. Eleanor Gehrig says 70,000; Richard Bak says 61,808; Ray Robinson says 62,000. So it's anybodys guess exactly the number of people pack
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