Lou Gehrig's Life And Accomplishments

So many people tried to fight back tears as Lou Gehrig said his speech on July 4, 1939 (Biography.com). His career was cut short due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He fought a hard battle and Later died of ALS. He closed the ceremony by saying, “I might have been given a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for. Thank you(Biography.com).” In his speech, he talked about being the luckiest man on the face of the earth. It is ironic since he got ALS and his career was ended because of it. Lou Gehrig was one of the best baseball players to ever live, however his career was cut short after being diagnosed and later dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Henry Louis Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903, in New York City. His parents’

Lou Gehrig started to take his place. On June 3, 1932, Lou Gehrig hit four homers in one game. That was the first time any American League player had done that. He would have hit five home runs if it hadn’t been robbed by Al Simmons. The next three years the Yankees missed the playoffs. During a trip to Japan, Babe and Lou got into a heated argument after Gehrig’s mother apparently said something bad about how Ruth’s daughter dressed. Babe told Gehrig that he never wanted to talk to him off of the baseball field again. The two never talked to each other off of the field until “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day which was six years

When Babe Ruth was getting near the end of his career, Lou finally started to show out. A new name started to pop up in all of those headlines, Joe DiMaggio. Lou Gehrig never seemed to be able to get out of that shadow. When someone asked Lou how did he feel playing in Babe Ruth’s shadow, he said, “It’s a pretty big shadow. It gives me lots of room to spread myself (Lougehrig.com).” It was as if that statement fits perfectly for Lou Gehrig. His batting average for his career was .340, 15th of all time. He is one of only two men to ever hit 100 extra-base hits two different seasons. Lou Gehrig batted after two of the best base cleaners in the history, Ruth and DiMaggio. He still managed to average 147 RBIs a season during his career.

In 1939, Lou went and checked himself into the Mayo Clinic. The doctors told Gehrig that he was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which strips nerve cells of their ability to interact with the body’s muscles (Biography.com). On May 2, 1939 Lou Gehrig told the coaches to take him out of the lineup ending the “Iron Horse” streak. On July 4, 1939, they had a day to honor Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium. That was the first time that Lou and Babe has shared words since 1934. He died due to ALS on June 2,