Historical Figure
Lou Gehrig
d. 1941
American baseball player (1903–1941)
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"Farewell to Baseball" — July 4, 1939
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Key Dates
Death
1941 June 2, 1941 →Biography
Henry Louis Gehrig was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him the nickname "the Iron Horse", and he is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Gehrig was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown winner once, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice and a member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career .340 batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on-base average. He hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBIs). He is also one of 21 players to hit four home runs in a single game. In 1939, Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was the first MLB player to have his uniform number retired by a team when his number 4 was retired by the Yankees.
Timeline
Lou Gehrig plays the first game in his streak of 2,130 consecutive games; it was the longest such streak until broken by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995.
June 1 →Because of a lineup shakeup by Miller Huggins, Wally Pipp is replaced by Lou Gehrig at first base for the New York Yankees, beginning a streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, topped only by Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1995. Exactly 16 years to the day, in 1941, Gehrig passes away from Amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
June 2 →Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years until it was broken by Alex Rodriguez.
August 20 →Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
July 4 →Baseball great, Lou Gehrig died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, a rare type of paralysis now referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. (b. 1903)
June 2 →More from the Interwar & WWII
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