On April 30, 1939, one of the greatest baseball players in history, Lou Gehrig, played the last game of his career. He took the field for the 2,130th game in a row, ending his record-setting streak. At the time, the athlete was already suffering from untreatable amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has since gone by his name. RT tells the story of the success and demise of one of the 20th century’s brightest sports stars.
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Lou Gehrig was born to German immigrant parents in New York in 1903. He was the only one of four children to reach adulthood: his sisters died of whooping cough and measles as children and his brother died as a baby. His parents dreamed of giving the boy, who spoke two languages – English and German – a good education.
His enthusiasm for American soccer and his good inclination allowed Lou to go to Columbia University, which should have helped him to study engineering. But the whole first academic year Gehrig spent without sports: even before the beginning of classes he on the advice of the manager of the baseball team “New York Giants” John McGraw played a few games in the Summer League under a different name, which was strictly prohibited by university rules. The young man was quickly exposed and disqualified for a year.
For a while Gehrig still played soccer, but soon switched to baseball, where he really shone. In one of the games for the university he noticed a scout, and soon Gehrig was offered to sign a contract with the New York Yankees, which in the 1920s every baseball player dreamed of. After spending one year at the farm club, where his batting stats could only be admired, Gehrig was promoted and in 1925 he was firmly at first base with the Yankees.
Gehrig had to stay in the shadow of the legendary Babe Ruth, one of the best baseball players in history. But he earned the love of the fans quickly enough. In nearly every season, 30 percent of Gehrig’s hits ended with a run to at least first base, a grand slam. When Ruth’s career began to come to an end, Lou was already an undisputed star not only for the Yankees, but for all of Major League Baseball (MLB).
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But it wasn’t just great stats that made Gehrig famous. He was known primarily for the fact that never, under any circumstances, did not miss games. Not even injuries were an obstacle. Gehrig quietly entered the field with broken fingers and continued to kick balls. X-rays of his hand, made in the last years of his career, showed that it broke and healed 17 times. The athlete earned the nickname Iron Horse for his endurance.
Gehrig’s streak of consecutive games played grew steadily, and sometimes he had to resort to tricks to prolong it. Once, because of severe back pain, he came out in an unusual position and was immediately replaced to make the game count. Another time Gehrig was sick with the flu, and not to spoil his statistics, Yankees general manager Ed Barrow announced that the next game will be canceled because of the rain, although no precipitation was not expected.
On August 17, 1933, Gehrig played his 1308th consecutive game and broke the MLB record. By that time he had already won three World Series titles, with three more with the Yankees and the second most valuable player in the American League. Gehrig’s fame by then extended far beyond baseball-he had become the first athlete to have his picture printed on cereal boxes and even tried to get a role in the Tarzan movies on the wave of his popularity.
Still, baseball remained Gehrig’s main occupation. He continued to take part in every game, extending his record streak. It lasted until April 30, 1939. On that day Gehrig played his 2,130th game. But as early as May 2, he brought the umpires a lineup card for another game in which he did not give his name. It was a shock to baseball fans, and they began to wonder what caused it.
At first glance, everything was obvious. As early as the middle of the 1938 season, Gehrig’s stats began to decline. He was rapidly losing form, batting worse and worse, running slower. Doctors initially suspected Gehrig’s gallbladder inflammation and prescribed him a diet, which only took away even more strength. He continued to play as the coaches themselves hesitated to put the world’s most famous baseball player on the bench. In 1939, Gehrig took the field in his first eight games, but only committed four hits. He then decided to voluntarily end his incredible streak.
Soon after, Gehrig went to the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester to finally understand the cause of his suddenly disappearing athletic form. After a six-day checkup, the athlete learned his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There was nothing the doctors could do to help. The famous baseball player was facing paralysis, breathing and speech problems and an imminent death within three years. Soon the disease, of which every sports fan in the United States became aware, became known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
