| Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lou Gehrig : The Early Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lou Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903 in the Yorkville section of New York City. He was the son of poor German immigrants, Heinrich and Christina. Lou didn't miss a single day of grade school. His favorite activites were sports. He loved baseball soccer and football. After high school Lou went to Columbia University. He played baseball for them and on April 26, 1923 a scout saw him play. Lou quit college and signed with the Yankees. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lou Gehrig : The Baseball Legend | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On June 1. 1925 Lou was sent to bat in place of the shortstop. The next game he was on the field in place of first baseman Wally Pipp. This was the start of an outstanding record. Over the next fourteen years Lou played 2,130 consecutive games with the Yankees. The boy who was always at grade school became the boy who was always at bat. He played through stomachaches, fevers, sore arms, back pains, and broken fingers. This earned him the nickname Iron Horse. In 1927 and 1936 he was the American League's Most Valuable Player. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lou Gehrig : The Hero | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| During the 1938 baseball season Lou's career and life came to a crashing hault. He suddenly stopped hitting. He exercised, took extra batting practices, tried changing his batting position, and watched his diet. On June 13, 1939, Lou went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. On his thirty-sixth birthday, June 19, he was handed his death sentence. He was suffering from Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a cruel, unforgiving fatal disease that affects the central nervous sytem. Lou stayed on with the team even after he could not play. July 4, 1939 was made Lou Gehrig Apreciation Day at Yankee Stadium. There Lou told the crowd that he considered himself the luckiest man alive. He never focused on the fact he was dying. Instead he only talked about what he was thankful for. He stared at adversity head-on with his head held high like a true hero. �
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