Lou Gehrig will forever be one of the greatest players in the history of baseball.
But the legacy of the New York Yankees legend is so much greater than that.
Gehrig’s famous consecutive games streak, and his brilliant career, came to an abrupt end after Gehrig’s diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which came to be named colloquially after Gehrig.
Following the news, Gehrig was recognized in a special retirement ceremony at Yankee Stadium. It’s there that he gave his famous speech in which he called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
Major League Baseball recognizes Gehrig on Sunday, June 1 and Monday, June 2 with Lou Gehrig Day celebrations. All players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear a special “4” decal on their uniforms to honor Gehrig with his number. There are also “4-ALS” wristbands available to be worn in action.
Given the timing, it’s worth revisiting Gehrig’s speech. It’s truly a message worth remembering each and every day.
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Lou Gehrig’s full Luckiest Man speech
Lou Gehrig didn’t have to speak long to share a message that would last for generations to come. Here’s the speech he gave on July 4, 1939:
“For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
“When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such a fine looking men as they’re standing in uniform in this ballpark today? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.
“When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that’s the finest I know.
“So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”
Gehrig died at age 37 on June 2, 1941. His legacy lives on forever.
