Lou Gehrig Falls to ALS: A Legend's Final Out

Lou Gehrig died on June 2, 1941, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 37, just two years after his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium declared him "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig on June 19, 1903, in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan to German immigrant parents, he played football and baseball at Columbia University before signing with the New York Yankees in 1923. He replaced Wally Pipp at first base on June 1, 1925, and didn't miss a game for the next 14 years, playing 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood for 56 years until Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1995. His statistics were extraordinary: a .340 career batting average, 493 home runs, 1,995 RBIs, and a Triple Crown in 1934. He hit four home runs in a single game. He drove in more than 100 runs for 13 consecutive seasons. He played alongside Babe Ruth in the most fearsome batting lineup in baseball history, yet his quiet demeanor meant he was perpetually overshadowed by Ruth's personality. The disease manifested in the spring of 1939, when teammates noticed he was losing coordination and strength. He pulled himself from the lineup on May 2, 1939, ending the consecutive-game streak. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed him with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on June 19, his 36th birthday. On July 4, 1939, the Yankees held Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. His speech, broadcast on radio, was brief, dignified, and devastating. "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 the earth." His death permanently linked his name to the disease, which is now commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Research funding for ALS has been driven by that association ever since.