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> Saturday Night Live just achieved a new low in my esetimation. Okay so make > fun of the yankees - that is permissable, and could be funny. > But dont make fun of lew garrick because of his disease!!! > That is beyond the pale!! > Hilary Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse New York Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp, a 15-year veteran who twice won the American League home run title, gave way one June day in 1925 to a rookie named Lou Gehrig. It seemed an innocent enough replacement. But Gehrig, in perhaps the most legendary example of making the most of one's opportunity, proceeded not to miss a game for the next 13 years. Gehrig soon become one of the greatest players and feared hitters baseball had ever seen. He was part of the "Murderers Row" lineup the Yankees sported in the 1920s and 30s, and Gehrig, who had set college baseball records nearby at Columbia University, was such a competent hitter and home run threat that he batted behind Babe Ruth. Gehrig hit .340 lifetime, and he was third all-time in slugging percentage and runs batted in. But Lou is remembered today at least as much for his quiet dignity as his skill. It is not surprising, for instance, that many baseball fans don't know that Gehrig hit two home runs, including the game-winner, in the 1932 World Series game against the Chicago Cubs in which the more flamboyant Ruth "called" one of his own two home runs. Gehrig is noted more still for his durability. The "Iron Horse" did not miss a single game until the mid-spring of 1939. The last game of Gehrig's playing streak turned out, sadly, to be the last game of his career. Despite not having their star first baseman in the lineup for the first time in 2,130 consecutive games, the Yankee juggernaut went out and crushed the Detroit Tigers, 22-2, on May 2, 1939, and Gehrig's replacement, Babe Dahlgren, hit a home run. Gehrig had been hitting just .143 in limited action that season. At the time, he was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that would soon kill him (and later bear his name). Later that year, the #4 worn by Gehrig became the first number in the major leagues ever retired when the Yankees accorded him the honor. On July 4, during Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium, the great first baseman gave his farewell speech and uttered one of the most famous lines in sports history: "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." The Iron Horse died in 1941, two weeks short of his 38th birthday. http://www.letsfindout.com/subjects/sports/gehrig.html Lou Gehrig - ALS Doctor's Guide to the Internet ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) The latest medical news and information for patients or friends/parents of patients diagnosed with ALS. http://www.pslgroup.com/ALS.HTM We try to make a difference. [log in to unmask]