Deseret News archives: Lessons from Lou Gehrig’s life
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
There were no page-topping headlines in newspapers around the world announcing that on May 2, 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees did not play against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium, ending his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played.
The Yankees star, a homegrown talent and one of the best baseball players of all time, had earned the nickname the “Iron Horse” by playing in every single game for nearly 14 years.
But the news was reported in most newspapers, including the Deseret News.
“Yankees still good sans Gehrig; Columbia Lou on bench,” read the May 3 edition of the Deseret News sports section.
Gehrig voluntarily took himself out of the lineup, but it wasn’t until later that he would be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Gehrig, the smooth-swinging first baseman who proved every bit as popular and talented as teammate Babe Ruth, retired in 1939. He died two years later, but the disease that took his life is known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Here’s what the Yankee Clipper said when he retired:
“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 this earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. …
“So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”
Gehrig’s life has had the Hollywood treatment, and is mentioned whenever someone sells a home run ball or his glove. In 1989, the U.S. Postal Service honored the “Yankee Clipper” with a commemorative stamp.
During a special meeting on Dec. 7, 1939, the Baseball Writers’ Association elected Gehrig to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His spot in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, continues to be one of the most popular to visitors.
Younger sports fans learned more about Gehrig when Baltimore Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak in 1995. The moment, captured on ESPN, still sends chills and Ripken proved a perfect ballplayer to break the iconic record.
On June 2, 1941, baseball’s “Iron Horse” died in New York.
