MLB pays homage to Gehrig on anniversary
July 4, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—Derek Jeter(notes) helped Major League Baseball commemorate the 70thanniversary of Lou Gehrig’s luckiest man speech Saturday, reading the famousline from the icon’s stirring words during a video tribute before the New YorkYankees’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees also placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers by Gehrig’splaque in Monument Park and made a $25,000 donation to Major League Baseball’s“4 (diamond) ALS” initiative, an effort to raise awareness of AmyotrophicLateral Sclerosis—the disease that forced Gehrig out of baseball in 1939 andtook his life two years later.
“It’s one thing to me to have the game taken away from you before it shouldbe but when you start talking about taking your life before it should, the wayhe handled it was incredible,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who has anuncle with ALS.
“I think any time you can pay tribute to this man I think you should do itbecause of just the legacy he left and the type of life that he lived.”
ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, attacks nerve cells in the brain and thespinal cord and robs from people who have it the ability to move and speak. Themajority of patients die from respiratory failure within five years of theprogress of symptoms, though there are exceptions.
All major league players, coaches and on-field personnel wore patchesSaturday to honor Gehrig’s legacy and a “4 (diamond) ALS” logo was displayedon first base in each ballpark as part of the awareness initiative.
Gehrig played first for the Yankees for 17 years, hitting .340 with 493homers and 1,995 RBIs. He hit a record 23 grand slams, had 13 straightconsecutive seasons of at least 100 RBIs and 100 runs and helped New York winsix World Series titles.
The Hall of Famer played in 2,130 straight games before he sat out againstthe Detroit Tigers on May 2, 1939, unable to play because of the effects of ALS.His consecutive games streak was the major league record before Cal Ripken, Jr.broke the mark in 1995.
Two months after Gehrig’s last game, the Yankees retired the Iron Horse’sNo. 4 in between games of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators. He wasthe first player in all of sports to receive such an honor.
In front of about 62,000 fans at the old Yankee Stadium, Gehrig deliveredone of the most memorable speeches in sports history. He called his disease a“bad break,” praised his teammates and manager Joe McCarthy and called hiswife “a tower of strength.”
The Yankees recreated the speech in a tribute shown on the videoboard oftheir new $1.5 billion ballpark Saturday, showing Gehrig reciting the firstsentence before cutting away to Jeter for the signature line.
“Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth,”the current Yankees captain said.
Several Yankees stars, including Jorge Posada(notes) and Andy Pettitte(notes), each read aline from the speech before the video cut back to Gehrig for the final fewwords.
In Washington, former U.S. Sen. George Allen (R), flanked by two ALSpatients, recreated the speech before the Nationals’ game against the AtlantaBraves. The small crowd stayed mostly quiet as Allen, the son of formerWashington Redskins coach George Allen, took 1 minute and 42 seconds to reciteGehrig’s address.
At Wrigley Field, former Cubs pitcher Dave Otto read Gehrig’s speech beforethe game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Yankees also hosted a couple of people diagnosed with ALS, includingMichael Goldsmith. The BYU law professor wrote a column in Newsweek that led tobaseball’s ALS initiative.
With help from his son, Austin, Goldsmith underhanded a ceremonial firstpitch to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira(notes) as the crowd saluted him with awarm ovation.
Nick Nicholson, a retired Navy commander who turns 66 on Monday and wasdiagnosed with ALS last August, brought his wife Joanna and two of his threechildren to the ballpark. His daughter scurried around the field gettingautographs before the game while a grinning Nicholson sat in the dugout.
“Dream come true,” he said.
AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago and AP freelance writer PeteKerzel in Washington contributed to this report.
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