Many have heard of Lou Gehrig's disease - this is a very dangerous pathology of the nervous system. But at the same time, few people know who Lou Gehrig himself is. Meanwhile, this American baseball player lived a bright and eventful life and achieved great success in sports.
Early biography
The full name of Lou Gehrig is Henry Louis Gehrig. He was born in New York in 1903 in a family of emigrants from Germany Christine Foch and Heinrich Gerig. The father of the future baseball player suffered from alcoholism and epilepsy, so the mother who worked as a servant was the main breadwinner in the family.
Gerig childhood passed in Manhattan, here he graduated from a regular high school, and then continued his education at the New York School of Commerce. And already at that time he showed himself as a promising athlete.
In 1921, he became a student at Columbia University. However, the student Gerig devoted most of his time not to studying, but to sports - during this period he played not only baseball, but also American football.
Lou Gehrig from 1923 to 1939
In 1923, Lou Gehrig dropped out of high school and signed a contract with the New York Yankees - a team that played in the so-called Major League Baseball (MLB). However, the start of a professional career turned out to be rather mediocre: in only 13 games he accounted for 9 RBI (RBI - the number of points earned by the team as a result of batter actions) and 1 home run (home run means a very good batter hit by the ball, as a result which the attacker manages to run through all the bases and get into the "house"). And the AVG indicator (this is the coefficient of efficiency of kicking the ball after innings of pitchers) was 423.
In 1924, Gerig played for the “Yankees" only 10 matches (gaining at the same time only 5 RBI). Since at first it was not possible to gain a foothold in the club, Lou Gehrig played for the Hartford Senators, the team of the Minor (lower in status than MLB) baseball league that season.
In this difficult year for himself, Gerig was thinking about leaving baseball. Once at Hartford, the Yankees scout Paul Crichell arrived and found Gerig drunk and depressed. However, Paul in a conversation was able to say the right words to Lou, and he again perked up.
In the New York Yankees match on June 1, 1925, Gerig replaced Paul Wunninger, playing shortstop. And on June 2, he was included in the main squad and stood at first base instead of Wally Pipp.
Over the next 14 years, Lou did not miss a single Yankees game, playing 2, 130 games without interruption (and until the mid-nineties this record was unsurpassed). It was for his phenomenal performance that he received the nickname "Iron Horse" from fans.
In 1927, many already realized that Gerig was a baseball superstar. In 155 games held that season, he achieved the following indicators - 175 RBI, 47 home runs and 373 AVG. And that was enough to become MLB's top scorer.
In 1931, Gerig was able to collect the largest number of RBIs per season among first-base players in MLB history. The following year, June 3, 1932, Lou set another record - he made as many as four home runs in one game (the Yankees rival in this case was the Philadelphia Athletics club).
In 1933, a significant event took place in the personal life of a baseball player - he married a girl named Eleanor Twitchell. They lived together until the death of Lou. They had no children.
In 1934, Gerig received the so-called Triple Crown, that is, he became the best player in all three key indicators - RBI, home runs and AVG.
In 1938, the performance of the game of Lou Gehrig, in comparison with previous seasons, decreased markedly. And in 1939 it became clear that the reason for the inexpressive game was clearly not only his fatigue and age (Gerig was at that time 35, and this is quite a lot for a professional athlete). For several games played before the end of April, he was able to bring his asset in just 1 RBI.
On May 2, the New York Yankees was due to play with the Detroit Tigers club. Before the start of the match, Gerig went to the head coach of the team and said that today he would be sitting on the bench.
This meant that the Gerig series of 2130 games was interrupted. The announcer at the stadium, of course, also reported this, and in response, the audience gave a long standing ovation to the athlete. Alas, this is where his baseball career actually ended.
A terrible diagnosis and the last years of life
Every day the baseball player experienced more and more difficulties with his health. Finally, in June 2019, he was examined in one of the clinics. According to the results of this examination, medical doctors put Gerig a severe diagnosis - degenerative amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This disease involves the gradual destruction of motor neurons and atrophy of the muscles of the body.
The news that Gerig was terminally ill was a real shock to all baseball fans. In general, one must admit: the fact that in North America amyotrophic lateral sclerosis began to be called Lou Gehrig's disease is evidence of the enormous popularity that the athlete had at one time.
July 4, 1939, US Independence Day, a farewell ceremony with Gerig took place, about 62 thousand people came to it. In his speech at the ceremony, the famous baseball player said he considered himself "the happiest person."
A few months later Lou Gehrig was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition, the Yankees leadership officially removed the uniform with the fourth number worn by the baseball player (that is, this number remained forever behind him).
In October 1939, the mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, invited Gerig to enter the city parole commission, and he agreed. On January 2, 1940, he officially started his new job.
Gerig was very responsible for his duties within the commission. He even personally visited New York penitentiaries. At the same time, the former baseball player insisted that his visits to these institutions should not be covered by the press.
The wife Eleanor also provided some help during this period - she directed his hand when he needed to sign official papers.
Death
At some point, Gerig’s physical condition deteriorated so much that he was no longer able to continue working, and left the pardon commission.
The legendary baseball player died about a month after that - on June 2, 1941. When his death became known, flags were lowered at all venues in the US Major League Baseball.
