View source for Lou Gehrig

{{Short description|American baseball player (1903–1941)}}
{{Redirect|Gehrig|other people with the surname|Gehrig (surname)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Lou Gehrig
|image=Lou Gehrig as a new Yankee 11 Jun 1923.jpg
| image_size  =
| caption = Gehrig with the New York Yankees in 1923
|position=[[First baseman]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date|1903|6|19}}
|birth_place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1941|6|2|1903|6|19}}
|death_place=New York City, New York, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=June 15
|debutyear=1923
|debutteam=New York Yankees
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=April 30
|finalyear=1939
|finalteam=New York Yankees
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.340
|stat3label=[[Home run]]s
|stat3value=493
|stat2label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
|stat2value=2,721
|stat4label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat4value=1,995
|teams=
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|1923}}–{{mlby|1939}})
|highlights=
* 7× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1933]]–[[1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1939]])
* 6× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1927}}, {{wsy|1928}}, {{wsy|1932}}, {{wsy|1936}}–{{wsy|1938}})
* 2× [[AL MVP]] (1927, 1936)
* [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] (1934)
* [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions|AL batting champion]] (1934)
* 3× [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders|AL home run leader]] (1931, 1934, 1936)
* 5× [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|AL RBI leader]] (1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934)
* Hit [[Batters with 4 home runs in one game|4 home runs in one game]] on June 3, 1932
* [[New York Yankees#Retired numbers|New York Yankees No. 4]] retired
* [[Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)|Monument Park]] honoree
* [[Major League Baseball All-Century Team]]
* [[Major League Baseball All-Time Team]]
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1939 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1939]]
|hofmethod=Special Election
}}

'''Henry Louis Gehrig''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|ɛər|ɪ|g}} {{respell|GAIR|ig}};<ref name="castro2018p144">{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAtKDwAAQBAJ |title=Gehrig and the Babe: The Friendship and the Feud |publisher=Triumph Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-64125-004-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uAtKDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Heinrich+Ludwig+Gehrig%22&pg=PT44 144]}}</ref> June 19, 1903{{snds}}June 2, 1941), also known as '''Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig''', was an American professional [[baseball]] [[first baseman]] who played 17 seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) for the [[New York Yankees]] (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him the nickname "'''the Iron Horse'''", and he is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Gehrig was an [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] seven consecutive times, a [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] winner once, an [[American League]] (AL) [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player]] twice and a member of six [[World Series]] [[List of World Series champions|champion]] teams. He had a career .340 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], .632 [[Slugging percentage|slugging average]], and a .447 [[on-base percentage|on-base average]]. He hit 493 [[home run]]s and had 1,995 [[run batted in|runs batted in]] (RBIs). He is also one of 19 players to [[List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders|hit four home runs in a single game]]. In [[1939 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1939]], Gehrig was elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] and was the first [[List of Major League Baseball retired numbers|MLB player to have his uniform number retired]] by a team when his number 4 was retired by the Yankees.

A native of [[New York City]] and a student at [[Columbia University]], Gehrig signed with the Yankees on April 29, 1923. He set several major-league records during his career,<ref name="multiple">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Lou Gehrig |encyclopedia=Britannica Encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/227791/Lou-Gehrig |access-date=April 16, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504181515/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/227791/Lou-Gehrig |archive-date=May 4, 2008}}</ref> including the most career [[Grand slam (baseball)|grand slams]] (23; since broken by [[Alex Rodriguez]])<ref>{{Cite news |title=A-Rod sets slam record, Yankees beat Giants 5–1 |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/rod-sets-slam-record-yankees-beat-giants-5-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014103720/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/rod-sets-slam-record-yankees-beat-giants-5-1 |archive-date=October 14, 2013 |access-date=September 21, 2013 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lou Gehrig Grand Slams |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/Lou_Gehrig_Grand_Slams.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515201307/http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/Lou_Gehrig_Grand_Slams.shtml |archive-date=May 15, 2008 |access-date=April 16, 2008 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref> and [[Major League Baseball consecutive games played streaks|most consecutive games played]] (2,130), a record that stood for 56 years and was long [[List of Major League Baseball records considered unbreakable|considered unbreakable]] until it was surpassed by [[Cal Ripken Jr.]] in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Acocella |first=Nick |title=Iron Man Ripken brought stability to shortstop |url=https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/ripken_cal.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211752/http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Ripken_Cal.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |website=ESPN}}</ref> Gehrig's consecutive game streak ended on May 2, 1939, when he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup, stunning both players and fans, after his performance in the field had become hampered by an undiagnosed ailment; it was subsequently confirmed to be [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS), an incurable neuromuscular illness which since then is sometimes referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease" in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lou Gehrig and the History of ALS|url=https://www.als.org/understanding-als/lou-gehrig?__cf_chl_tk=Hcu1gGtGFURryVNXfd1tV_AgbopqcsVEZgO93C9h9jk-1750166219-1.0.1.1-yZj6oCWZHzPJXZfk_As_V2uwRBhyV79x7kENXeYv_Ik|access-date=June 17, 2025 |website=ALS Association}}</ref>

Gehrig never played again and retired in 1939 at age 36. Two weeks later, the ball club held a Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day on July 4, 1939, at the close of which he delivered his speech declaring himself the "luckiest man on the face of the earth" at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]. Two years later, Gehrig died of complications from ALS. In 1969, the [[Baseball Writers' Association of America]] voted Gehrig the greatest first baseman of all time, and he was the leading vote-getter on the [[Major League Baseball All-Century Team|MLB All-Century Team]], chosen by fans in 1999.<ref name=":0" /> A monument in Gehrig's honor, originally dedicated by the Yankees in 1941, currently resides in [[Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)|Monument Park]] at the new [[Yankee Stadium]]. The [[Lou Gehrig Memorial Award]] is given annually to the MLB player who best exhibits Gehrig's integrity and character.

==Early life==
Gehrig was born June 19, 1903, at 1994 Second Avenue in the [[Yorkville, Manhattan|East Harlem]] neighborhood of [[New York City]];<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Ray |date=July 3, 2005 |title=Gehrig Remains a Presence in His Former Neighborhood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/sports/baseball/03gehrig.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> he weighed almost {{convert|14|lb|kg|1}} at birth. He was the second of four children of [[German Americans|German immigrants]] Anna Christina Foch (1881–1954) and Heinrich Wilhelm Gehrig (1867–1946).<ref name="Eig">{{Cite book |last=Eig |first=Jonathan |url=https://archive.org/details/luckiestmanlifea00eigj |title=Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7432-4591-3 |location=New York |pages=3–4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Norman S. |date=August 2, 1941 |title=Sport Sandwich |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19410802&id=PeIiAAAAIBAJ&pg=844,2553896 |access-date=July 11, 2017 |work=[[Lewiston, Maine#Media|Lewiston Evening Journal]]}}</ref> Gehrig's father was a [[Metalworking|sheet-metal worker]] by trade who was frequently unemployed due to [[alcoholism]] and [[epilepsy]], and his mother, a [[maid]], was the main breadwinner and disciplinarian in their family.<ref name="Horse">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Ray |url=https://archive.org/details/ironhorselougehr00robi_0/page/30 |title=Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-393-02857-7 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ironhorselougehr00robi_0/page/30 30–31]}}</ref> 

Gehrig's mother Christina was born in 1881 in [[Wilster]], [[Schleswig-Holstein]], a province of [[Germany|pre-World War I Germany]], near the [[Denmark–Germany border|Danish border]]. She emigrated to the United States in 1899. His father Heinrich was born in 1867 in [[Adelsheim]], [[Baden]] (now part of [[Baden-Württemberg]]), and came to the U.S. in October 1888. Heinrich originally spent some time in [[Chicago]], but later settled in New York, where he met Christina, who was 14 years his junior. Both parents were [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]]. They married in 1900. 

[[File:GehrigCU.jpg|thumb|Gehrig on the [[Columbia Lions baseball|Columbia baseball team]]|left]]Gehrig was the only one of the four siblings to live past childhood. His two sisters died at early ages from [[whooping cough]] and [[measles]]; a brother also died in infancy.<ref>Eig: pp. 7, 11.</ref> From a young age, Gehrig helped his mother with work, doing tasks such as folding laundry and picking up supplies from local stores.<ref>Eig: p. 9</ref> Gehrig spoke [[German language|German]] during his childhood,<ref>{{Citation |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title=Migrations and Cultures: A World View |page=82 |year=1996 |place=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=978-0465045891 |quote=... it may be indicative of how long German cultural ties endured [in the United States] that the German language was spoken in childhood by such disparate 20th-century American figures as famed writer [[H. L. Mencken]], baseball stars [[Babe Ruth]] and Lou Gehrig, and by the Nobel Prize-winning economist [[George Stigler]]. |author-link=Thomas Sowell}}</ref> not learning [[English language|English]] until the age of five.{{r|menand20200525}} In 1910, he lived with his parents at 2266 Amsterdam Avenue in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]].<ref>1910; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York; Roll T624_1026; Page: 26B; Enumeration District: 683; Image: 431.</ref> Ten years later, the family resided at 2079 8th Avenue in [[Manhattan]].<ref>1920;Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 11, New York; Roll T625_1205; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 830; Image: 541.</ref> He was known as "Lou" so he would not be confused with his namesake father, who was known as Henry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Viola |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eqXAgAAQBAJ&q=heinrich+ludwig+gehrig&pg=PA6 |title=Lou Gehrig |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2012 |isbn=9781467704007 |edition=Revised |access-date=November 25, 2015}}</ref>[[File:LouGehrigColumbia (cropped).jpg|thumb|Gehrig on the [[Columbia Lions football|Columbia football team]], 1922]]
Gehrig attended PS&nbsp;132 in Washington Heights, then went to Commerce High School, graduating in 1921.<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', p. 44.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=P.S. 132 Historical Perspective |url=http://www.binarywire.com/ps132/background.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107101312/http://www.binarywire.com/ps132/background.htm |archive-date=January 7, 2009 |access-date=April 16, 2008 |publisher=NYC Department of Education}}</ref> He first garnered national attention for his [[baseball]] ability while playing in a game at Cubs Park (now [[Wrigley Field]]) in Chicago on June 26, 1920. His Commerce High School team was playing a local team from [[Lane Tech College Prep High School|Lane Tech High School]] in front of a crowd of more than 10,000&nbsp;spectators.<ref name="NYT1920">{{Cite news |date=June 27, 1920 |title=Commerce Team Wins |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> With his team leading 8–6 in the top of the ninth inning, Gehrig hit a [[grand slam (baseball)|grand slam]] completely out of the major league park, which was an unheard-of feat for a 17-year-old.<ref name="NYT1920" /><ref name="Kashatus">{{Cite book |last=Kashatus |first=William |title=Lou Gehrig: A Biography |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2004 |location=Westport, Connecticut}}</ref>

==College career==
Gehrig studied [[engineering]] at [[Columbia University]] for two years. Finding the schoolwork difficult, he left Columbia to pursue a career in [[professional baseball]].<ref>''[[World Book Encyclopedia]]'', Chicago: Field Enterprises, 1958, p. 2897.</ref> Gehrig had been recruited to play [[gridiron football|football]] at the school, earning a scholarship there,{{r|menand20200525}} later joining the [[Columbia Lions baseball|baseball team]]. 

Before his first semester began, [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] manager [[John McGraw]] advised Gehrig to play summer professional baseball under an assumed name, '''Henry Lewis''', despite the fact that it could jeopardize his [[NCAA eligibility|collegiate sports eligibility]]. After he played 12 games for the [[Hartford Senators]] in the [[Eastern League (1916)|Eastern League]], he was discovered and banned from collegiate sports his freshman year.<ref name="Biography">{{Cite web |title=Lou Gehrig: Biography |url=http://www.lougehrig.com/about/bio.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116125538/http://www.lougehrig.com/about/bio.htm |archive-date=January 16, 2013 |access-date=December 4, 2012 |publisher=Lou Gehrig.com}}</ref> In 1922, Gehrig returned to collegiate sports as a [[fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]] for the [[Columbia Lions football|Columbia Lions football team]]. Later, in 1923, he played [[first baseman|first base]] and [[pitcher (baseball)|pitched]] for the [[Columbia Lions baseball|Columbia baseball team]].<ref name="Biography" /> At Columbia, he was a member of the [[Phi Delta Theta]] fraternity.<ref name="Columbia">{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Ray |title=Lou Gehrig: Columbia Legend and American Hero |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Fall2001/Gehrig.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411105312/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Fall2001/Gehrig.html |archive-date=April 11, 2008 |access-date=April 16, 2008}}</ref>

On April 18, 1923, the same day the [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|original Yankee Stadium]] opened for the first time and [[Babe Ruth]] inaugurated the new season with a [[home run]] against the [[1923 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]], Columbia pitcher Gehrig struck out 17 [[Williams Ephs]] [[batting (baseball)|batters]] to set a team record, though Columbia lost the game. Only a handful of collegians were at Columbia's South Field that day, but more significant was the presence of [[New York Yankees]] scout [[Paul Krichell]], who had been trailing Gehrig for some time. Gehrig's pitching did not particularly impress him; rather, it was Gehrig's powerful [[left-handed]] hitting. Krichell observed Gehrig hit some of the longest home runs ever seen on various eastern campuses, including a {{convert|450|ft|m|0|adj=on}} home run on April 28 at South Field, which landed at 116th Street and Broadway.<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', pp. 58–59.</ref> Scouts saw Gehrig as "the next Babe Ruth."{{r|menand20200525}}

==Professional career==
===Minor leagues===
Gehrig signed a contract with the Yankees on April 30.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Five things you didn't know about Lou Gehrig |url=http://web.yesnetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150430&content_id=121535552&oid=36019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502174215/http://web.yesnetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150430&content_id=121535552&oid=36019 |archive-date=May 2, 2015 |access-date=May 1, 2015 |website=yesnetwork.com}}</ref> Gehrig returned to the minor league [[Hartford Senators]] to play parts of two seasons, 1923 and 1924, batting .344 and hitting 61 home runs in 193 games. Except for his games at Hartford, a two-hour car ride away, Gehrig would play his entire baseball life—sandlot, high school, college, and professional—with teams based in New York City.

===New York Yankees===
[[File:1923 Lou Gehrig.png|thumb|upright|Gehrig in 1923]]
Gehrig joined the New York Yankees midway through the 1923&nbsp;season and made his major-league debut as a [[pinch hitter]] at age 19 on June 15, 1923. In his first two seasons, Gehrig was mired behind Yankee stalwart [[Wally Pipp]] at first base, a two-time [[American League]] (AL) home run champion and one of the premier power hitters in [[Major League Baseball]]'s (MLB) "[[Deadball era|dead-ball era]]."<ref name="sabr">{{Cite web |last=Spatz |first=Lyle |title=The Baseball Biography Project: Wally Pipp |url=http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1793&pid=11286 |access-date=July 26, 2010 |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> Gehrig saw limited playing time, mostly as a [[pinch hitter]], playing in only 23 games and being left off the Yankees' [[1923 World Series]] roster in spite of producing both years (with lofty [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]]s of .423 in 1923 and .500 in 1924). On June 1, 1925, the slumping Pipp took himself out of the day's lineup with complaints of a headache and was replaced by Gehrig. Pipp would never get his job with the team back, while Gehrig went on to appear in every game the Yankees played until April 30, 1939.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Consecutive MLB Games Played : The Top 15 &#124; Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats2.shtml}}</ref> In 1925, Gehrig batted .295, with 20 home runs and 68 [[run batted in|runs batted in]] (RBIs) over 126 games.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://www.lougehrig.com/biography/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714011130/http://www.lougehrig.com/about/bio.html |archive-date=July 14, 2015 |website=Lou Gehrig}}</ref>

Gehrig, unlike Ruth, was not a gifted [[position player]], so he played first base, often the position for a strong hitter but weaker fielder.{{r|menand20200525}} The 23-year-old Yankee's breakout season came in [[1926 New York Yankees season|1926]], when he batted .313 with 47 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], an AL-leading 20 [[triple (baseball)|triples]], 16 home runs, and 112 RBIs.<ref name=Biography/> In the [[1926 World Series]] against the [[1926 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]], Gehrig hit .348 with two doubles and four RBIs. The Cardinals won the series 4 games to 3.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kashatus |first=William |title=Lou Gehrig: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters) (Hardcover) |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-32866-4}}</ref>

====1927====
[[File:1928 Gehrig Speaker Cobb Ruth.jpg|thumb|left|Gehrig, [[Tris Speaker]], [[Ty Cobb]], and [[Babe Ruth]] in 1928]]
In [[1927 New York Yankees season|1927]], Gehrig put together one of the greatest seasons by any batter in history, hitting .373, with 218&nbsp;hits: 101 [[single (baseball)|singles]], 52&nbsp;doubles, 18&nbsp;triples, 47&nbsp;home runs a then-record 175 RBIs (surpassing Ruth's 168 six years earlier), a .474 [[on-base percentage]] and a .765 [[slugging percentage]].<ref name=Biography/> His 117&nbsp;extra-base hits that season are second all-time to Ruth's 119&nbsp;extra-base hits in 1921<ref name=Biography/> and his 447 [[total bases]] are third all-time, after Ruth's 457&nbsp;total bases in 1921 and [[Rogers Hornsby]]'s 450 in 1922.<ref name=Biography/> Gehrig's production helped the 1927 Yankees to a 110–44 record, the AL pennant (by 19 games) and a four-game sweep of the [[1927 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] in the [[1927 World Series|World Series]].

Although the AL recognized his season by naming him league MVP, Gehrig's accomplishments were overshadowed by Ruth's record-breaking sixty home runs and the overall dominance of the 1927 Yankees, a team often cited as having the greatest lineup of all time, the famed "[[Murderers' Row]]."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Murderers' Row and Beyond |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/minor-league/minor2003a.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511203818/http://baseball-almanac.com/minor-league/minor2003a.shtml |archive-date=May 11, 2008 |access-date=April 18, 2008 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref>

====1929====
In [[1929 New York Yankees season|1929]], the Yankees debuted wearing numbers on their uniforms.<ref>[https://www.yankeenumbers.com/#:~:text=The%20New%20York%20Yankees%20were,even%20past%20a%20few%20games. yankeesnumbers.com]</ref> Gehrig wore number 4 because he hit behind Ruth, who batted third in the lineup.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Lou Gehrig |url=https://baseballhall.org/hof/gehrig-lou |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024205405/https://baseballhall.org/hof/gehrig-lou |archive-date=October 24, 2017 |access-date=October 24, 2017 |work=Baseball Hall of Fame |language=en}}</ref>

====1932====
In [[1932 New York Yankees season|1932]], Gehrig became the first player in the 20th century to [[List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders|hit four home runs in a game]], accomplishing the feat on June 3 against the [[History of the Philadelphia Athletics|Philadelphia Athletics]] at [[Shibe Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |year=2000 |title=Box Score of Four Home Run Game by Lou Gehrig |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/06031932.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514111302/http://baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/06031932.shtml |archive-date=May 14, 2008 |access-date=August 5, 2008 |publisher=Baseball Almanac}}</ref> He narrowly missed hitting a fifth home run when Athletics [[center fielder]] [[Al Simmons]] made a leaping catch of another fly ball at the center-field fence. Following the game, Yankees manager [[Joe McCarthy (manager)|Joe McCarthy]] told him, "Well, Lou, nobody can take today away from you." On the same day, however, John McGraw announced his retirement after 30 years of managing the New York Giants, so McGraw, not Gehrig, got the main headlines in the city's sports sections the next day.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Reichler |first1=Joseph L. |url=https://archive.org/details/baseballsunforge0000jose/page/228/mode/2up |title=Baseball's unforgettable games |last2=Olan |first2=Ben |publisher=Ronald Press Co |others=Internet Archive |year=1960 |pages=229, 231}}</ref> Gehrig's four home run game was only the third in MLB history to that point, the first since [[Ed Delahanty]] in 1896.

====1933====
On August 17, 1933, Gehrig played in his 1,308th consecutive game against the [[History of the St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns]] at [[Sportsman's Park]], which surpassed the longest consecutive games played streak held by [[Everett Scott]]. Scott attended as a guest of the Browns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fullerton |first=Hugh S. Jr. |date=August 17, 1933 |title=Lou Sets New Playing Mark: Game Today to Break 1307 Consecutive Mark Set by Everett Scott |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s_4nAAAAIBAJ&pg=3568,3169744&dq=everett-scott |access-date=January 16, 2016 |website=The Southeast Missourian |page=8}}</ref> 

Gehrig lived with his parents until 1933, when he was 30 years old. His mother ruined all of Gehrig's romances until he met [[Eleanor Gehrig|Eleanor Twitchell]] (1904–1984), the daughter of [[Chicago Park District|Chicago Parks]] Commissioner Frank Twitchell,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krieger |first=Tara |title=Eleanor Gehrig |url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8bb96875 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326154818/http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8bb96875 |archive-date=March 26, 2017 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> in 1932. They began dating the next year<ref name="menand20200525">{{Cite magazine |last=Menand |first=Louis |date=May 25, 2020 |title=How Baseball Players Became Celebrities |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/01/how-baseball-players-became-celebrities |access-date=May 26, 2020 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en}}</ref> and married in September. She helped Gehrig leave his mother's influence and hired [[Christy Walsh (sports agent)|Christy Walsh]], Ruth's [[sports agent]]; Walsh helped Gehrig become the first athlete on [[Wheaties]] boxes.{{r|menand20200525}}

====1934====
On April 30, 1934, Gehrig hit his 300th home run versus the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]], becoming the second player to reach the milestone after Ruth.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cuddy |first=Jack |date=May 1, 1934 |title=Ruffing, On Comeback Road, Wins Game With Smash to Bleachers in Final Inning |work=[[The Indianapolis Times]] |page=15 |volume=45 |issue=304}}</ref> Gehrig won the AL [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] in 1934, leading the league with 49 home runs, 166 RBIs and a .363 batting average.<ref name=":0" />

====1936====
[[File:Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg 1935.jpg|thumb|upright|Gehrig and Detroit slugger [[Hank Greenberg]] in 1935]]
In a [[1936 World Series]] cover story about Gehrig and [[Carl Hubbell]], [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] proclaimed Gehrig "the game's No. 1 batsman," who "takes boyish pride in banging a baseball as far, and running around the bases as quickly, as possible."<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 5, 1936 |title=Equinoctial Climax |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770376,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226234907/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770376,00.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007 |access-date=December 17, 2007 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> Also in 1936, at the urging of his wife, Gehrig agreed to hire Ruth's publicity agent, who, in turn, persuaded him to audition for the role of [[Tarzan]] in the independent film ''[[Tarzan's Revenge]]''. Gehrig only got as far, though, as posing for a widely distributed, and embarrassing, photo of himself in a leopard-spotted costume. When Tarzan creator [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] spotted the outfit, he [[telegram]]med Gehrig, "I want to congratulate you on being a swell first baseman."<ref name="Beschloss">{{Cite news |last=Beschloss |first=Michael |date=April 25, 2014 |title=When the Iron Horse (Almost) Played Tarzan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/upshot/when-the-iron-horse-almost-played-tarzan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426024635/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/upshot/when-the-iron-horse-almost-played-tarzan.html |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |access-date=April 26, 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Producer [[Sol Lesser]] was unimpressed with Gehrig's legs, calling them "more functional than decorative," and passed on him for the role which eventually went to the [[1936 Summer Olympic Games|1936 Olympic]] [[decathlon]] gold medalist [[Glenn Morris]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ERBzine 0619: Tarzan's Revenge |url=https://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0619.html}}</ref> Gehrig had been known as "Biscuit Pants" due to his thick legs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Markusen |first=Bruce |date=September 18, 2009 |title=The Nickname Game: Lou Gehrig |url=https://tht.fangraphs.com/the-nickname-game-lou-gehrig/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=The Hardball Times}}</ref>

====2,130 consecutive games====
On June 1, 1925, Gehrig entered the game as a pinch hitter, substituting for [[shortstop]] Paul "Pee Wee" Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager [[Miller Huggins]] started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman [[Wally Pipp]], who had a headache. Pipp was in a slump, as was the team, so Huggins made several lineup changes in an attempt to boost their performance, replacing Pipp, [[Aaron Ward (baseball)|Aaron Ward]] and [[Wally Schang]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Anderson |first=Bruce |date=June 29, 1987 |title=A Pipp of a Legend: The Man Who Was Benched in Favor of Iron-Horse Lou |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066131/1/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502044747/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066131/1/index.htm |archive-date=May 2, 2015 |access-date=April 18, 2014 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref> Fourteen years later, Gehrig had played 2,130&nbsp;consecutive games, shattering the previous record of 1,307 along the way.

[[File:1937 all stars crop FINAL2.jpg|thumb|right|Seven of the American League's [[1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1937 All-Star players]], from left to right Gehrig, [[Joe Cronin]], [[Bill Dickey]], [[Joe DiMaggio]], [[Charlie Gehringer]], [[Jimmie Foxx]], and [[Hank Greenberg]]. All seven would be elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Fame]].]]
During the streak, sportswriters in 1931 nicknamed Gehrig "the Iron Horse."{{r|menand20200525}} In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch-hitting appearances and fortuitous timing; in others, the streak continued despite injuries. For example:
* On April 23, 1933, a pitch by [[Earl Whitehill]] of the Washington Senators struck Gehrig in the head. Although almost knocked unconscious, Gehrig remained in the game.
* On June 14, 1933, Gehrig was [[ejection (baseball)|ejected]] from a game, along with manager Joe McCarthy, but he had already been at bat.
* In a June 1934 exhibition game, Gehrig was hit by a pitch just above the right eye and was knocked unconscious. According to news reports, he was out for five minutes. [[Batting helmet]]s were not commonly used until the 1940s. He left the game but was in the lineup the next day.<ref name="NYT2010">{{Cite web |last=Schwarz |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Schwarz |date=December 4, 2012 |title=Study Says Brain Trauma Can Mimic A.L.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/sports/18gehrig.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301164517/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/sports/18gehrig.html |archive-date=March 1, 2017 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>
* On July 13, 1934, Gehrig suffered a "[[low back pain|lumbago]] attack" and had to be assisted off the field. In the next day's away game, he was listed in the lineup as "shortstop", batting lead-off. In his first and only plate appearance, he singled and was promptly replaced by a pinch runner to rest his throbbing back, never taking the field. [[A&E (TV network)|A&E]]'s ''Biography'' speculated that this illness, which he also described as "a cold in his back," might have been the first symptom of the disease which ultimately led to his retirement.<ref name="Davis1988">{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=J. H. |year=1988 |title=Fixing the Standard of Care: Motivated Athletes and Medical Malpractice |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=info:tFte_3bGN7AJ:scholar.google.com/&output=viewport |journal=American Journal of Trial Advocacy |volume=12 |page=215 |access-date=April 17, 2008}}</ref>

In addition, [[x-ray]]s taken late in his life disclosed that Gehrig had sustained several fractures during his playing career, although he remained in the lineup despite those previously undisclosed injuries.<ref>{{Citation |title=Mike Tilden English 15 Gregg Rogers 24 October 2002 September 11 Defines "American Hero" |url=http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/w/mwt131/frosh/engl015/definition%20paper.pdf |access-date=April 17, 2008}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> However, the streak was helped when Yankees general manager [[Ed Barrow]] postponed a game as a rainout on a day when Gehrig was sick with the flu, though it was not raining.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Getlen |first=Larry |date=February 28, 2010 |title=The Baseball Codes |url=https://nypost.com/2010/02/28/the-baseball-codes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012211943/http://nypost.com/2010/02/28/the-baseball-codes/ |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |access-date=February 28, 2010 |work=[[New York Post]]}}</ref> He continued the streak despite his wife attempting to persuade him to end it at 1,999 games by acting sick. He then had beaten the previous record by nearly 700 games.

Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games endured for fifty-six years until [[Baltimore Orioles]] shortstop [[Cal Ripken Jr.]] surpassed it on September 6, 1995; Ripken finished with 2,632 consecutive games.<ref name="Greenberg2004">{{Cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=D. A. |last2=Jin |first2=K. |year=2004 |title=VEGF and ALS: the luckiest growth factor? |journal=Trends in Molecular Medicine |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1016/j.molmed.2003.11.006 |pmid=14720577}}</ref>
{{-}}

====Illness====
Despite not being diagnosed with [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS) until June 1939, Gehrig began experiencing symptoms as early as midway through the [[1938 New York Yankees season|1938 season]]. Although his performance in the second half of the season was slightly better than in the first half, Gehrig reported physical changes at the midway point. At the end of that season, he said, "I was tired mid-season. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again." Although his final 1938 statistics were above average (.295 batting average, 114 RBIs, 170 hits, .523 slugging percentage, 689 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs), boosted by a hot August, they were significantly down from his [[1937 New York Yankees season|1937 season]], in which he batted .351 and slugged .643. He hit his last home run on September 27, 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castrovince |first=Anthony |date=June 2, 2021 |title=Gehrig's 'worst' season actually was his best |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/lou-gehrig-s-final-years |access-date=March 24, 2023 |website=MLB.com}}</ref> In the [[1938 World Series]], he had 4 hits in 14 at-bats (.286 batting average), all singles.<ref name="Malik2000">{{Cite journal |last=Malik, N. |year=2000 |title=Lou Gehrig's Disease: A Closer Look at the Genetic Basis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |url=http://www.geriatricsandaging.com/FMPro?-DB=GA_articles_database&-Find=&-Format=record_detail.htm&Name=Lou%20Gehrig%27s%20Disease:%20A%20Closer%20Look%20at%20the%20Genetic%20Basis%20of%20Amyotrophic%20Lateral%20Sclerosis |url-status=dead |journal=Pediatrics |volume=3 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421164915/http://www.geriatricsandaging.com/FMPro?-DB=GA_articles_database&-Find=&-Format=record_detail.htm&Name=Lou%20Gehrig%27s%20Disease:%20A%20Closer%20Look%20at%20the%20Genetic%20Basis%20of%20Amyotrophic%20Lateral%20Sclerosis |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |access-date=April 17, 2008}}</ref> 

When the Yankees began their 1939 [[spring training]] in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], Gehrig clearly no longer possessed his once-formidable power. Even his base running was affected, and at one point he collapsed at [[Al Lang Stadium]], then the Yankees' spring training park.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chick |first=Bob |date=February 24, 2008 |title=Spring Training In Tampa&nbsp;– The Final Out |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]]}}</ref> By the end of spring training, he had not hit a home run.<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', p. 248.</ref> Throughout his career, Gehrig was considered an excellent base runner, but as the 1939 season got under way, his coordination and speed had deteriorated significantly.<ref name="Walling1999">{{Cite journal |last=Walling |first=A. D. |year=1999 |title=Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Lou Gehrig's disease. |journal=American Family Physician |volume=59 |issue=6 |pages=1489–96 |pmid=10193591}}</ref>

By the end of April, eight games into the season, Gehrig's statistics were the worst of his career, with one RBI and a .143 batting average. Fans and the press openly speculated on his abrupt decline. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, said in one article:

{{Blockquote|I think there is something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don't know what it is, but I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers 'go' overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It's something deeper than that in this case, though. I have watched him very closely and this is what I have seen: I have seen him time a ball perfectly, swing on it as hard as he can, meet it squarely – and drive a soft, looping fly over the infield. In other words, for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn't there ... He is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn't going anywhere.<ref name="quotes">{{Cite web |title=Quotes about Lou Gehrig |url=http://www.lougehrig.com/about/quotesabout.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029174125/http://www.lougehrig.com/about/quotesabout.htm |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |access-date=April 16, 2008 |website=lougehrig.com}}</ref>}}

Gehrig was indeed meeting the ball, with only one strikeout in 28&nbsp;at-bats. However, with Gehrig hitless in five of the eight games, McCarthy found himself resisting pressure from Yankee management to switch his slumping player to a part-time role. Things came to a head when Gehrig struggled to make a routine put-out at first base. The pitcher, [[Johnny Murphy]], had to wait for Gehrig to drag himself over to the bag so he could field the throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou."<ref name="quotes" /> Gehrig's later assessment was very dismissive. "That was the simplest play you could ever make in baseball, and I knew then: There was something wrong with me."<ref>{{Citation |last=Carey |first=Max |title=SportsCentury Greatest Athletes #34: Lou Gehrig |date=April 5, 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlmhiroSgXY&t=16m57s |access-date=June 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/TlmhiroSgXY |archive-date=October 30, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the [[1939 Washington Senators season|Washington Senators]]. He had just played his 2,130th consecutive major league game.<ref name="Biography2" /> On May 2, the next game after a day off, Gehrig approached McCarthy before the game in [[Detroit]] against the [[1939 Detroit Tigers season|Tigers]] and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe," telling the Yankees' skipper that he was doing so "for the good of the team."<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', pp. 251–253.</ref> McCarthy acquiesced, putting [[Babe Dahlgren|Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren]] in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig felt he could play again, the position was his. Gehrig, as Yankee captain, himself took the lineup card out to the shocked [[umpire]]s before the game, ending the 14-year streak. Before the game began, the [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Briggs Stadium]] announcer told the fans, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time Lou Gehrig's name will not appear on the Yankee lineup in 2,130 consecutive games." The Tigers' fans gave Gehrig a [[standing ovation]] while he sat on the bench with tears in his eyes.<ref name=Malik2000/> Coincidentally, among those attending the game was Wally Pipp, whom Gehrig had replaced at first base 2,130 games previously. A wire-service photograph of Gehrig reclining against the [[dugout (baseball)|dugout]] steps with a stoic expression appeared the next day in the nation's newspapers. He stayed with the Yankees as team captain for the rest of the season but never played in a major-league game again.<ref name=Malik2000/>

===Diagnosis===
As Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, his wife called the [[Mayo Clinic]] in [[Rochester, Minnesota]]. Her call was transferred to [[Charles William Mayo]], who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Mayo told Gehrig's wife to bring him to the clinic as soon as possible.<ref name="Malik2000" />

Gehrig flew alone to Rochester from [[Chicago]], where the Yankees were playing at the time, and arrived at the Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. After six days of extensive testing, doctors confirmed the diagnosis of ALS on June 19, which was Gehrig's 36th birthday.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite book |last=Eig |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Eig |url=https://archive.org/details/luckiestmanlifea00eigj |title=Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7432-4591-3 |location=New York}}</ref> The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing [[paralysis]], difficulty in swallowing and speaking and a life expectancy less than three years, although no impairment of mental functions would occur. Gehrig's wife was told that the cause of the disease was unknown, but that it was painless, not contagious and cruel; the motor function of the [[central nervous system]] is destroyed, but the mind remains fully aware until the end.<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', p. 258.</ref><ref name="Cardoso2002">{{Cite journal |last1=Cardoso, R.M.F. |last2=Thayer, M.M. |last3=Didonato, M. |last4=Lo, T.P. |last5=Bruns, C.K. |last6=Getzoff, E.D. |author-link6=Elizabeth D. Getzoff |last7=Tainer, J.A. |year=2002 |title=Insights into Lou Gehrig's Disease from the Structure and Instability of the A4V Mutant of Human Cu, Zn Superoxide Dismutase |journal=Journal of Molecular Biology |volume=324 |issue=2 |pages=247–256 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2836(02)01090-2 |pmid=12441104}}</ref> Eleanor later wrote of this time: "The call came from Dr. Mayo and Dr. O'Leary, and it hit me amidships. "Take your time and give me the works," Lou had ordered them with a laugh when the testing began. And they took their time and gave him the works. At the outside, they told me on the telephone, he had two and a half years to live."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gehrig |first1=Eleanor |title=My Luke and I |last2=Durso |first2=Joseph |date=1976 |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell Company |isbn=0-690-01109-1 |edition=1st}}</ref> Gehrig often wrote letters to his wife, and one such note written shortly after the diagnosis said in part:

{{blockquote|The bad news is lateral sclerosis, in our language "creeping" paralysis. There isn't any cure ... there are very few of these cases. It is probably caused by some germ ... Never heard of transmitting it to mates ... There is a 50–50 chance of keeping me as I am. I may need a cane in 10 or 15 years. Playing is out of the question ...<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaden |first=S. |year=2002 |title=More About His ALS Battle |url=http://moregehrig.tripod.com/id3.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717103127/http://moregehrig.tripod.com/id3.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |access-date=April 16, 2008}}</ref>}}

Gehrig continued,<blockquote> {{nbsp}}... and Paul [Dr. O'Leary, Mayo Clinic] suggests a coaching job or job in the office or writing. I made him honestly assure me that it will not affect me mentally. They seem to think I'll get along all right if I can reconcile myself to this condition, which I have done but only after they assured me there is no danger of transmission and that I will not become mentally unbalanced and thereby become a burden on your hands for life. I adore you, sweetheart.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gehrig |first1=Eleanor |title=My Luke and I |last2=Durso |first2=Joseph |date=1976 |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell Company |isbn=0-690-01109-1 |edition=1st}}</ref></blockquote>

Following Gehrig's diagnosis, he briefly rejoined the Yankees in [[Washington, D.C.]] As his train pulled into [[Union Station (Washington, D.C.)|Union Station]], he was greeted by a group of [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] happily waving and wishing him luck. Gehrig waved back, but he leaned forward to his companion, [[Rutherford "Rud" Rennie]] of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', and said, "They're wishing me luck—and I'm dying."<ref name="Eig" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Dave |date=July 2, 1989 |title=Commemorating the Iron Horse's Iron Will |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/sports/sports-of-the-times-commemorating-the-iron-horse-s-iron-will.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325154152/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/sports/sports-of-the-times-commemorating-the-iron-horse-s-iron-will.html |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |access-date=August 1, 2016 |work=The New York Times |page=2S}}</ref>

====Possibility of CTE====
Although Gehrig's symptoms were consistent with ALS and he did not experience the wild mood swings and eruptions of uncontrolled violence that define [[chronic traumatic encephalopathy]] (CTE), an article in the September 2010 issue of the ''[[Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology]]''<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=McKee, AC , Gavett, Brandon E, Stern, Robert A, Nowinski, Christopher, Cantu, Robert C |date=September 2010 |title=TDP-43 Proteinopathy and Motor Neuron Disease in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. |journal=Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology |volume=69 |issue=9 |pages=918–929 |doi=10.1097/NEN.0b013e3181ee7d85 |pmc=2951281 |pmid=20720505 |s2cid=9767847}}</ref> suggested the possibility that some ALS-related illnesses diagnosed in Gehrig and other athletes may have been CTE, catalyzed by repeated [[concussion]]s and other [[brain trauma]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schwarz |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Schwarz |date=August 17, 2010 |title=Study Says Brain Trauma Can Mimic A.L.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/sports/18gehrig.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225211914/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/sports/18gehrig.html |archive-date=December 25, 2016 |access-date=November 4, 2016 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Frank |first=David |date=August 17, 2010 |title=Study Finds Trauma May Mimic A.L.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/1247468643950/study-finds-trauma-may-mimic-a-l-s.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203022519/https://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/1247468643950/study-finds-trauma-may-mimic-a-l-s.html |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |access-date=November 4, 2016 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> In 2012, [[Minnesota]] state representative [[Phyllis Kahn]] sought to change the law protecting the privacy of Gehrig's medical records, which are held by the Mayo Clinic, in an effort to determine if a connection could exist between his illness and the concussion-related trauma that he had received during his career. Gehrig played fullback on the football team at Columbia University and had a long history of concussions, including several incidents in which he lost consciousness. He played through these injuries.<ref name="st">{{Cite news |date=October 9, 2012 |title=What's to learn from Lou Gehrig's death? |url=http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/172581481.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325174018/http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/172581481.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue |archive-date=March 25, 2014 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |work=Star Tribune |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 22, 2021 |title=Did Lou Gehrig Actually Have Lou Gehrig's Disease? Brain Trauma, ALS, And CTE With Motor Neuron Disease |url=https://www.juliestamm.com/blog/brain-trauma-als-and-cte-with-motor-neuron-disease |access-date=March 24, 2023 |website=Julie Stamm}}</ref>

Gehrig played prior to the advent of batting helmets. To diagnose CTE would require [[autopsy]] results; none was conducted on Gehrig before his remains were cremated following his open-casket [[wake (ceremony)|wake]].<ref name="st" /> Multiple physicians have argued that examining records alone would be fruitless.<ref name="pbs">{{Cite web |last=Markel |first=Howard |date=June 17, 2016 |title=Did Lou Gehrig actually die of 'Lou Gehrig's disease'? |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/did-lou-gehrig-actually-die-of-lou-gehrigs-disease |website=PBS NewsHour |publisher=PBS |language=en-us}}</ref>

====Retirement====
{{MLBBioRet
|Image  = LouGehrig4.jpg
|Name   = Lou Gehrig
|Number = 4
|Team   = New York Yankees
|Year   = 1939
|}}

[[File:Babe Ruth hugging Lou Gehrig (1939).jpg|thumb|upright|The Yankee dynamic duo reunited{{snds}}Gehrig and [[Babe Ruth]] at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, shortly after Gehrig's retirement. Within a decade, a similar testimonial would honor Ruth, who died from [[Nasopharyngeal carcinoma|cancer]] in 1948.]]
Staff at the Mayo Clinic released their ALS diagnosis to the public on June 19, 1939. Two days later, the Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement, with an immediate public push to honor him.<ref name="StLouis">{{Cite news |date=July 5, 1939 |title='Iron-Man' Gehrig Weeps as 61,808 Pay Tribute to Him |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62394503/st-louis-star-and-times-751939/ |work=[[St. Louis Star-Times]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=[[United Press|UP]]}}</ref> In its coverage the following day, ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the ceremony was "perhaps as colorful and dramatic a pageant as ever was enacted on a baseball field [as] 61,808 fans thundered a hail and farewell."<ref name="NYT1939">{{Cite news |last=Drebinger |first=John |date=July 5, 1939 |title=61,808 Fans Roar Tribute to Gehrig |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/07/05/112698231.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Dignitaries and members of the Murderers' Row lineup attended the ceremonies and praised Gehrig. [[Mayor of New York City|New York mayor]] [[Fiorello La Guardia]] called Gehrig the "perfect prototype of the best sportsmanship and citizenship" and [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] [[James Farley]] concluded his speech by predicting, "Your name will live long in baseball and wherever the game is played they will point with pride and satisfaction to your record."<ref name="StLouis" />

Yankees manager Joe McCarthy then spoke of Gehrig, a close friend. Struggling to control his emotions, McCarthy described Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman and citizen that baseball has ever known." He turned tearfully to Gehrig and said, "Lou, what else can I say except that it was a sad day in the life of everybody who knew you when you came into my hotel room that day in Detroit and told me you were quitting as a ballplayer because you felt yourself a hindrance to the team. My God, man, you were never that."<ref name="Belli1996">{{Cite journal |last1=Belli, R.F. |last2=Schuman, H. |year=1996 |title=The complexity of ignorance |journal=Qualitative Sociology |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=423–430 |doi=10.1007/BF02393279 |s2cid=144220498}}</ref>

The Yankees [[List of Major League Baseball retired numbers|retired]] Gehrig's uniform number 4, making him the first player in MLB history to be so honored.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of retired numbers dates back to Lou Gehrig Day |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover/retired-numbers-date-back-to-lou-gehrig-day |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=[[Baseball Hall of Fame]]}}</ref> Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques and trophies. Some were presented by VIPs and others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. As Gehrig was handed the gifts, he would immediately place them on the ground, as he no longer had the arm strength to hold them.<ref name="Eig" /> The Yankees presented Gehrig with a silver trophy bearing all of their engraved signatures. Inscribed on the front was a poem written by ''Times'' writer [[John Kieran]] at the players' request.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Day He Retired |url=http://moregehrig.tripod.com/id12.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508062131/http://moregehrig.tripod.com/id12.html |archive-date=May 8, 2015 |access-date=May 1, 2015 |website=MoreGehrig: Extensive Gehrig Info Source}}</ref>

The trophy became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions.<ref name=":1" /> It is currently on display at the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]].

===="The luckiest man on the face of the earth"====
{{anchor|"The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech}}
On July 4, 1939, Gehrig delivered what has been called "baseball's [[Gettysburg Address]]" to a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium in between a [[doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] against the Washington Senators.<ref name="LGfarewell">{{Cite web |date=July 4, 1939 |title=Farewell Address |url=http://www.lougehrig.com/about/farewell.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205121101/http://www.lougehrig.com/about/farewell.html |archive-date=February 5, 2014 |access-date=December 12, 2013 |publisher=lougehrig.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wulf |first=Steve |date=July 4, 2014 |title=An awful lot to live for |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/11159148/mlb-lou-gehrig-farewell-speech-75-years-later |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714033529/http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11159148/mlb-lou-gehrig-farewell-speech-75-years-later |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |access-date=July 14, 2014 |publisher=[[ESPN]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Full Text of Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech |url=https://www.si.com/mlb/2009/07/04/gehrig-text |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230319/http://www.si.com/mlb/2009/07/04/gehrig-text |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |access-date=July 14, 2014 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Luckiest Man |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/lou-gehrig-luckiest-man |access-date=August 13, 2024 |website=[[Baseball Hall of Fame]]}}</ref> Having always avoided public attention, Gehrig did not want to speak, but the crowd chanted for him and he had memorized some sentences beforehand.{{r|menand20200525}}

{{blockquote|Fans, for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break.<ref>[you have been reading about the bad break I got]</ref> [pause] Today<ref>[Yet today]</ref> I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the<ref>[this]</ref> 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 fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today?<ref>[Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?]</ref> 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.}}

Only four sentences of the speech exist in recorded form; complete versions of the speech are assembled from newspaper accounts.{{r|menand20200525}}

{{blockquote|For the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. (pause) Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. (cut) When you look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today? (cut) ... that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNLKPaThYkE |title=Gehrig delivers his famous speech at Yankee Stadium |date=July 1, 2014 |access-date=May 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122153719/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNLKPaThYkE |archive-date=January 22, 2015 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}</ref>}}

The crowd stood and cheered for almost two minutes.<ref name=":1" /> Gehrig's sometimes-estranged former teammate Babe Ruth hugged him as a band played "[[I Love You Truly]]" and the crowd chanted, "We love you, Lou!" The ''Times'' account the following day called the moment "one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field" that made even hard-boiled reporters "swallow hard."<ref name="NYT1939" />

==Career statistics==
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
|-
!Years!![[Games played|G]]!![[At bat|AB]]!![[Run (baseball)|R]]!![[Hit (baseball)|H]]!![[Double (baseball)|2B]]!![[Triple (baseball)|3B]]!![[Home run|HR]]!![[Total bases|TB]]!![[Extra base hit|XBH]]!![[Runs batted in|RBI]]!![[Stolen bases|SB]]!![[Bases on balls|BB]]!![[Batting average (baseball)|AVG]]!![[On-base percentage|OBP]]!![[Slugging percentage|SLG]]||[[On-base plus slugging percentage|OPS]]!![[Fielding percentage|FLD%]]
|-
|17||2,164||8,001||1,888||2,721||534||163||493||5,060||1,190||1,995||102||1,508||.340||.447||.632||1.080||.991
|}
Source:[https://baseball-reference.com/players/g/gehrilo01.shtml][https://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pgehrl101.htm]

Gehrig was a productive hitter in the postseason. He played in the [[World Series]] seven times and won six of them. In 34 total World Series games (1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938), he batted .361 (43-for-119) with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 35 RBI, 26 walks, .483 on-base percentage, .731 slugging percentage, and 1.214 on-base plus slugging percentage.

==Later life==
[[File:Lou Gehrig wake 1941.jpg|thumb|Gehrig's funeral at [[Christ Church (Bronx)|Christ Episcopal Church]] in [[Riverdale, Bronx]], June 4, 1941]]
[[File:Lou Gehrig best 800.jpg|thumb|Lou and Eleanor Gehrig's headstone in [[Kensico Cemetery]] (the year of his birth was erroneously inscribed as "1905")]]
Gehrig played his last game for the Yankees on April 30, 1939.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 1939 NY A Regular Season Batting Log for Lou Gehrig |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1939/Igehrl1010171939.htm |website=www.retrosheet.org}}</ref> On July 11 of that year, he appeared at the [[1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] at Yankee Stadium as the AL team captain, officially on the roster as a reserve player, exchanging lineup cards prior to the game.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 10, 2016 |title=Radio broadcast of 1939 MLB All-Star Game on YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Au4FpvIdc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301173737/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Au4FpvIdc |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |access-date=January 27, 2019 |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>Baseball Reference | [https://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/1939-allstar-game.shtml 1939 All-Star Game Box Score] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127094308/https://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/1939-allstar-game.shtml |date=January 27, 2019}}</ref>

Following his retirement from baseball, Gehrig wrote, "Don't think I am depressed or pessimistic about my condition at present." Struggling against his ever-worsening physical condition, he added, "I intend to hold on as long as possible and then if the inevitable comes, I will accept it philosophically and hope for the best. That's all we can do."<ref name="Eig" />

In October 1939, Gehrig accepted Mayor La Guardia's appointment to a ten-year term as a New York City [[parole]] commissioner (Gehrig had moved from [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]] to [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] to satisfy a residency requirement for the job) and was sworn into office on January 2, 1940.<ref name="Robinson, p. 266" /> The Parole Commission commended Gehrig for his "firm belief in parole, properly administered", stating that he "indicated he accepted the parole post because it represented an opportunity for public service. He had rejected other job offers—including lucrative speaking and guest appearance opportunities—worth far more financially than the $5,700&nbsp;a year commissionership." Gehrig visited New York's correctional facilities but insisted that the visits not be covered by news media.<ref>In appointing Gehrig as a parole commissioner, LaGuardia said, "I believe he will be not only a capable, intelligent commissioner but that he will be an inspiration and a hope to many of the younger boys who have gotten into trouble. Surely the misfortune of some of the young men will compare as something trivial with what Mr. Gehrig has so cheerfully and courageously faced." Gehrig continued to go regularly to his [[New York City Hall|City Hall]] office until a month before his death. (reference: [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycparole/parolelist.html New York City Parole Commission history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220160604/http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycparole/parolelist.html |date=February 20, 2006}})</ref> He was often helped by his wife Eleanor, who would guide his hand when he had to sign official documents. When Gehrig's deteriorating physical condition made it impossible for him to continue, he quietly resigned from the position about a month before his death.<ref name="Cleveland2001">{{Cite journal |last1=Cleveland |first1=D.W. |last2=Rothstein |first2=J.D. |year=2001 |title=From Charcot to Lou Gehrig: deciphering selective motor neuron death in ALS |url=http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/teaching/C7101/From_Charcot_to_Lou_g.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=806–19 |doi=10.1038/35097565 |pmid=11715057 |s2cid=2050462 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080529100048/http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/teaching/C7101/From_Charcot_to_Lou_g.pdf |archive-date=May 29, 2008 |access-date=April 17, 2008}}</ref>

===Death===
At 10:10{{nbsp}}p.m. on June 2, 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday, Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] neighborhood of [[the Bronx]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1941 |title=Gehrig, 'Iron Man' of Baseball, Dies at the age of 37 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/03/archives/gehrig-iron-man-of-baseball-dies-at-the-age-of-37-rare-disease.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>Yardley, Jonathan. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A19187-2005Apr1/ "Book World Live: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig"]{{dead link|date=April 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', April 5, 2005. Accessed May 3, 2008. "On June 2, 1941, just days short of his 38th birthday, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his house in the pleasant New York City neighborhood of Riverdale."</ref> Upon hearing the news, Babe Ruth and his wife Claire went to the Gehrig residence to console Gehrig's wife Eleanor. Mayor La Guardia ordered flags in New York to be flown at [[half-mast|half-staff]], and MLB ballparks around the nation did likewise.<ref>''Time'' magazine, June 16, 1941.</ref>

Thousands viewed Gehrig's body at the [[Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York|Church of the Divine Paternity]]. Ruth cut in line ahead of everyone and wept in front of the casket.{{r|menand20200525}} Following the funeral across the street from his house at [[Christ Church (Bronx)|Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale]], Gehrig's remains were cremated on June 4 at [[Kensico Cemetery]] in [[Valhalla, New York]], {{convert|21|mi}} north of Yankee Stadium in suburban [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]]. Gehrig's ashes were locked into a crypt in the stone monument marking his grave.<ref>Sandomir, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/sports/baseball/when-cooperstown-almost-changed-from-museum-to-mausoleum.html "When Cooperstown Almost Changed From Museum to Mausoleum"]. ''New York Times'', July 29, 2017.</ref> Gehrig and [[Ed Barrow]] are interred in the same section of the cemetery, which is next door to [[Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York)|Gate of Heaven]], where the graves of Ruth and [[Billy Martin]] lie in Section 25.<ref name="Innes1999">{{Cite journal |last1=Innes, A.M. |last2=Chudley, A.E. |year=1999 |title=Genetic landmarks through philately – Henry Louis'Lou' Gehrig and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |journal=Clinical Genetics |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=425–27 |doi=10.1034/j.1399-0004.1999.560603.x |pmid=10665660 |s2cid=44335967 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Eleanor never remarried and was quoted as saying, "I had the best of it. I would not have traded two minutes of my life with that man for forty years with another." She dedicated the remainder of her life to supporting ALS research. She died on her 80th birthday, March 6, 1984, and was interred with him in Kensico Cemetery.<ref name="Kashatus" />

==Legacy==
===Statistical accomplishments===
[[File:Lou Gehrig Way 2010.JPG|thumb|Lou Gehrig Way in [[New Rochelle, New York]]: Gehrig lived in a modest home at 9 Meadow Lane in the Residents Park section near the College of New Rochelle.]]
Despite playing in the shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career, Gehrig was one of the best run producers in baseball history; he had 509&nbsp;RBIs during a three-season stretch (1930–32). Only two other players, [[Jimmie Foxx]] with 507 and [[Hank Greenberg]] with 503, have surpassed 500&nbsp;RBIs in any three seasons; their totals were not consecutive. (Babe Ruth had 498.)<ref>{{Cite web |title=MLB Most Valuable Player MVP Award Winners |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/mvp.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109123655/http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/mvp_cya.shtml |archive-date=January 9, 2010 |access-date=April 18, 2008 |website=Baseball Reference}}</ref> Playing 14 complete seasons, Gehrig had 13 consecutive seasons with 100 or more RBIs (a major-league record shared with Foxx and tied in 2010 by [[Alex Rodriguez]]).

Gehrig had six seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), plus a seventh season at .349. Gehrig led the American League in runs scored four times, home runs three times, and RBIs five times. His 185 RBIs in 1931 remain the AL record as of {{currentyear}} and rank second all-time to [[Hack Wilson]]'s 191 in 1930. On the single-season RBI list, Gehrig ranks second, fifth (175) and sixth (174), with four additional seasons of over 150 RBIs.

Gehrig also holds the baseball record for most seasons with 400&nbsp;total bases or more, accomplishing this feat five times in his career.<ref name="Mark Newman">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Mark |title=Gehrig's shining legacy of courage |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/history/gehrig.jsp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416033029/http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/history/gehrig.jsp |archive-date=April 16, 2008 |access-date=April 18, 2008 |website=MLB.com}}</ref> He batted fourth in the lineup behind Ruth, making [[Intentional base on balls|intentionally walking]] Ruth counterproductive for opposing pitchers.

[[Lefty Grove]], one of the AL's best pitchers during Gehrig's playing days who often threw the ball at batters, refrained from doing so to Gehrig. "You can never tell what that big fellow will do if you get him mad at you," Grove explained.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russo |first=Frank |title=The Cooperstown Chronicles: Baseball's Colorful Characters, Unusual Lives, and Strange Demises |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3639-4 |location=New York |page=146}}</ref>

===Comparisons with Ruth===
Unlike Ruth, Gehrig had the physique of a [[power hitter]]. Ruth usually hit home runs as high [[fly ball (baseball)|fly ball]]s, while Gehrig's were [[line drive]]s.{{r|menand20200525}} During the ten seasons (1925–1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were teammates and next to each other in the batting order and played a majority of the games, Gehrig had more home runs than Ruth only once, in 1934 (Ruth's last year with the Yankees, as a 39-year-old), when he hit 49 to Ruth's 22 (Ruth played 125&nbsp;games that year, and a handful in 1935 before retiring). They tied at 46&nbsp;in 1931. Ruth had 424 home runs compared to Gehrig's 347; however, Gehrig outpaced Ruth in RBIs, 1,436 to 1,316. Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth, during this period.<ref name="Biography2">{{Cite web |title=Lou Gehrig |url=https://baseballbiography.com/lou-gehrig-1903 |access-date=April 18, 2008}}</ref>
{{quote box |width= 18em |border= 4px |align=left|bgcolor= #FAF0E6 |qalign= centre | title="Line-Up for Yesterday"|quote=
<poem>
G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.
</poem>
|source=&nbsp;— [[Ogden Nash]], ''[[SPORT (US magazine)|SPORT]]'' (January 1949)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Line-Up For Yesterday by Ogden Nash |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028091707/http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml |archive-date=October 28, 2017 |access-date=January 23, 2008 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref>}}

===Election to the Baseball Hall of Fame===
[[File:HOF Gehrig Lou plaque.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Gehrig's plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame]]
During a winter meeting of the [[Baseball Writers' Association of America|Baseball Writers' Association]] on December 7, 1939, Gehrig was elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] in a special election related to his illness.<ref name="Robinson, p. 266">Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', p. 266.</ref> At age 36, he was the youngest player to be so honored (since surpassed by [[Sandy Koufax]], who was five months younger than Gehrig at the time of his election in 1972).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Louis Gehrig |url=http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=114680 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403155758/http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=114680 |archive-date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=April 18, 2008 |website=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.}}</ref>

Gehrig never had a formal induction ceremony. On July 28, 2013, he and 11 other deceased ballplayers received a special tribute during the induction ceremony, held during "Hall of Fame Induction Weekend" in [[Cooperstown, New York]].<ref>National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: "2013 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend July 26–29", ''Induction Ceremony'', Lou Gehrig tribute [http://www.baseballhall.org/hofweekend] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621055030/http://baseballhall.org/hofweekend|date=June 21, 2013}} Retrieved June 24, 2013</ref>

===Monument===
The Yankees dedicated a [[Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)|monument]] to Gehrig in center field at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941; the shrine lauded him as, "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130&nbsp;consecutive games should stand for all time." Gehrig's monument joined the one placed there in 1932 to Miller Huggins, which would eventually be followed by Babe Ruth's in 1949.<ref name="Biography2" />

===Memorial plaques===
Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan at 1994&nbsp;Second Avenue, near E.&nbsp;103rd Street, is memorialized with a plaque marking the site, as is another early residence on 309 E.&nbsp;94th Street, near Second Avenue. Gehrig died in a white house at 5204&nbsp;Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The house still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque.<ref name=Biography/>{{Failed verification|date=May 2023}}

===Lou Gehrig Memorial Award===
The [[Lou Gehrig Memorial Award]] is given annually to an MLB player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Gehrig, off and [[Sportsmanship|on the field]].<ref name="PDT">{{Cite web |title=The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award |url=http://www.phideltatheta.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27 |access-date=November 6, 2012 |publisher=Phi Delta Theta International Site}}</ref> The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in 1955, 14 years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy."<ref name=PDT/> The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in [[Oxford, Ohio]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickson |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceeU7xSLw5kC&q=lou+gehrig+memorial+award&pg=PA518 |title=The Dickson Baseball Dictionary |date=June 13, 2011 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=9780393073492 |pages=518 |access-date=November 9, 2012}}</ref> and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

===Medical Center===
The ALS treatment and research center at his alma mater, Columbia University, is named '''The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center'''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 22, 2019 |title=Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center |url=https://www.alscenter.cuimc.columbia.edu/patient-care/clinical-services |access-date=January 10, 2021 |publisher=[[Columbia University Irving Medical Center]]}}</ref> Located at [[NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital]] and [[Columbia University Irving Medical Center]], they have a clinical and research function directed at ALS and the related motor neuron diseases [[primary lateral sclerosis]] and [[progressive muscular atrophy]].

===Lou Gehrig Day===
In March 2021, Major League Baseball declared June 2 henceforth to be ''Lou Gehrig Day''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castrovince |first=Anthony |date=March 4, 2021 |title=Inaugural Lou Gehrig Day set for June 2 |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/lou-gehrig-day-june-2-to-raise-als-awareness |access-date=May 10, 2021 |website=MLB.com}}</ref> June 2 was chosen because it is the anniversary of when Gehrig became the Yankees' starting first baseman in 1925 and when he died in 1941.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Castrovince |first=Anthony |date=June 1, 2021 |title=Inaugural Lou Gehrig Day: All the details |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/lou-gehrig-day-june-2nd-2021-details |access-date=June 1, 2021 |work=MLB.com}}</ref>

==Records, awards, and accomplishments==
Sixty years after his farewell to baseball, Gehrig received the most votes of any baseball player on the [[Major League Baseball All-Century Team]], chosen by fan balloting in 1999.<ref name="ESPN">{{Cite web |date=October 23, 2007 |title=All-Century Team final voting |url=https://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/1023/129008.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110730181449/http://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/1023/129008.html |archive-date=July 30, 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2009 |website=[[ESPN]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In 1999, editors at ''[[Sporting News]]'' ranked Gehrig sixth on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".<ref>{{Cite web |title=100 Greatest Baseball Players by The Sporting News : A Legendary List by Baseball Almanac |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lisn100.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712221219/http://www.cycleback.com/eddiecollins.html |archive-date=July 12, 2007 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |publisher=Baseball-almanac.com}}</ref> In 2022, as part of their SN Rushmore project, they also named Gehrig on their "New York Mount Rushmore of Sports", along with fellow Yankee [[Babe Ruth]], [[New York Knicks]] basketball player [[Walt Frazier]], and [[New York Giants]] football player [[Lawrence Taylor]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gatto |first=Tom |date=August 1, 2022 |title=New York's Mount Rushmore of Sports: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lawrence Taylor, Walt Frazier voted best of the best |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/new-york-mount-rushmore-sports-babe-ruth-lou-gehrig-lawrence-taylor-walt-frazier/mksx1uyhff2bqshrshfln1qb |work=[[The Sporting News]]}}</ref>

===Records===
[[File:Lou Gehrig 1925.jpg|thumb|Gehrig sliding into home plate in 1925]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+'''MLB Records'''
|-
!Accomplishment
!Record
!Refs
|-
|Most consecutive seasons with 120+ RBIs
|8 <small>(1927–1934)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Highest [[on-base percentage]] by a first baseman
|.447
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Highest [[slugging percentage]] by a first baseman
|.632
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Most extra base hits by a first baseman
|1,190
|<ref name=records/>
|-
! style="background:#dde;" colspan="3"|Single–season
|-
|Most runs batted-in by a first baseman
|184 <small>(1931)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Most runs scored by a first baseman
|167 <small>(1936)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman
|.765 <small>(1927)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Extra-base hits by a first baseman
|117 <small>(1927)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|Most total bases by a first baseman
|447 <small>(1927)</small>
|<ref name=records/>
|-
! style="background:#dde;" colspan="3"|Single–game
|-
|[[List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders|Most home runs]]
|4
|<ref name=records/>
|}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

===Awards and honors===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Award/Honor
!No. of times
!Dates
!Refs
|-
|American League [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]]
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|1933–1939
|<ref>{{Cite web |year=2007 |title=All-Star Game History |url=http://baseball-almanac.com/asgmenu.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017094849/http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgmenu.shtml |archive-date=October 17, 2018 |access-date=July 4, 2007 |publisher=Baseball Almanac}}</ref>
|-
|[[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|American League MVP]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|1927, 1936
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=MLB Most Valuable Player MVP Award Winners |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/mvp.shtml |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|Named starting first baseman on the [[Major League Baseball All-Century Team]]
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|1999
|<ref name="ESPN" />
|-
|Inducted into [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]]
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|1939
|<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[List of World Series champions|World Series champion]]
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|[[1927 World Series|1927]], [[1928 World Series|1928]], [[1932 World Series|1932]], [[1936 World Series|1936]], [[1937 World Series|1937]], [[1938 World Series|1938]]
|
|}

===Other accomplishments===
{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:left
|-
|- style="background:#efefef;"
!Accomplishment
!Year
!Ref
|-
| [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] (.363 BA, 49 HR, 165 RBI)
|1934
|<ref name="records">{{Cite web |title=Achievements |url=http://www.lougehrig.com/about/achievements.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418083947/http://www.lougehrig.com/about/achievements.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2012 |access-date=April 16, 2008 |website=LouGehrig.com}}</ref>
|-
| Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons
|1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ohtani achieves another rare feat: 400 total bases |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/players-with-400-total-bases-in-a-season?lctg=81671608 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|With [[Stan Musial]], one of two players to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 450 home runs in a career
|–
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|One of only four players (with [[Babe Ruth]], [[Stan Musial]], and [[Ted Williams]]) to end career with a minimum .330 batting average, 450 home runs, and 1,800 RBI
|–
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|With [[Albert Pujols]], one of two players to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the a season three times
|1927, 1930, 1934
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Which Players Hit 40 Home Runs And 40 Doubles In A Season Multiple Times |url=https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/which-players-hit-40-home-runs-and-40-doubles-in-a-season-multiple-times |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=StatMuse |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|Scored game-winning run in eight World Series games
|–
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|First athlete ever to appear on a box of [[Wheaties]]
|–
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kindy |first=David |title=How Wheaties Became the 'Breakfast of Champions' |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-wheaties-became-breakfast-champions-180978246/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|First baseball player to have his uniform number retired; his July 4, 1939, farewell speech was voted by fans as the fifth-greatest moment in MLB history in 2002
|July 4, 1939
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|The Lou Gehrig Memorial Trophy was awarded to the most valuable player in the annual [[Max Kase#Other accomplishments|Hearst Sandlot Classic]].
|1946 - 1965
|<ref name=records/>
|-
|A Lou Gehrig 25-cent postage stamp was issued by the [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] on the 50th anniversary of his retirement from baseball, depicting him both in profile and at bat ([[Scott catalogue|Scott number]] 2417)
|1989
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=25c Lou Gehrig single |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1990.0517.12891 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Smithsonian Postal Museum}}</ref>
|- number (4) Baseball.
| On the 70th anniversary of his farewell address in Yankee Stadium, MLB dedicated a day of remembrance to him and to the awareness of ALS
| July 4, 2009
|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Ray |date=June 27, 2009 |title=70 Years Later, Gehrig's Speech Still Resonates With Inspiration |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/sports/baseball/28gehrig.html |access-date=May 20, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
|}

==Film and other media==
[[File:Gehrig in rawhide.jpg|right|thumb|Gehrig in the 1938 feature film ''[[Rawhide (1938 film)|Rawhide]]'']]

Gehrig starred in the 1938 [[20th Century Fox]] movie [[Rawhide (1938 film)|''Rawhide'']], playing himself in his only feature-film appearance.<ref>Robinson, ''Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time'', pp. 231–32.</ref> At the beginning of the film, Gehrig spoke words which would soon take on a certain poignancy. He states that he is through with baseball. A journalist says that he'll miss the crowds, the cheering, the excitement. Gehrig replies: "That's just what I want to get away from. I had all of that. I'm going to wallow in peace and quiet for the rest of my life. I'm going to hang up my spikes for a swell old pair of carpet slippers."<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 28, 2022 |title=Rawhide |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RsQEYIBE9w&t=18s |access-date=May 15, 2025 |website=Rawhide 1938 western full feature film}}</ref> In 2006, researchers presented a paper to the [[American Academy of Neurology]], reporting on an analysis of ''Rawhide'' and photographs of Gehrig from the 1937–1939 period, to ascertain when he began to show visible symptoms of ALS. They concluded that while atrophy of hand muscles could be detected in 1939 photographs of him, no such abnormality was visible at the time ''Rawhide'' was shot in January 1938. "Examination of ''Rawhide'' showed that Gehrig functioned normally in January 1938," the report concluded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=Melissa |last2=Gordon |first2=Paul H. |date=July 13, 2006 |title=Lou Gehrig, Rawhide, and 1938 |url=https://www.neurology.org/doi/abs/10.1212/01.wnl.0000254623.04219.aa |url-status=live |journal=Neurology |publisher=[[American Academy of Neurology]] |volume=68 |issue=8 |pages=615–618 |doi=10.1212/01.wnl.0000254623.04219.aa |pmid=17310036 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412014654/http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/short/68/8/615?rss=1 |archive-date=April 12, 2009 |access-date=April 22, 2008}}</ref>

Gehrig's life was the subject of the 1942 film ''[[The Pride of the Yankees]]'', starring [[Gary Cooper]] as Gehrig and [[Teresa Wright]] as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, winning [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Film Editing]]. Former Yankee teammates Babe Ruth, [[Bob Meusel]], [[Mark Koenig]], and [[Bill Dickey]] (then still an active player) played themselves, as did sportscaster [[Bill Stern]]. In 2008, [[AFI's 10 Top 10#Sports|the AFI honored]] ''The Pride of the Yankees'' as the third-best sports movie.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 1, 2023 |title=AFI's 10 TOP 10 SPORTS |url=https://letterboxd.com/afi/list/afis-10-top-10-sports/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=letterboxd.com |language=en}}</ref>

"The Lou Gehrig Story", about the days leading up to his farewell speech, was also featured on an episode of the [[CBS]] anthology TV series [[Climax!]] on April 19, 1956, starring [[Wendell Corey]] and [[Jean Hagen]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2021 |title=Climax: The Lou Gehrig Story (April 19, 1956, CBS) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noOEQxZHvDI |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

The 1978 TV movie ''A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story'' starred [[Blythe Danner]] and [[Edward Herrmann]] as Eleanor and Gehrig, respectively. It was based on the 1976 autobiography ''My Luke and I'', written by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso.

In an episode of the [[PBS]] series ''Jean Shepherd's America'', the Chicago-born [[Jean Shepherd]] told of how he and his father would watch [[Chicago White Sox]] games from the right-field upper deck at [[Comiskey Park]] in the 1930s. On one occasion, the Sox were playing the Yankees, and the elder Shepherd had been taunting Gehrig, yelling at him all day. In the top of the ninth, with Sox icon [[Ted Lyons]] holding a slim lead, Gehrig came to bat with a man on base, and the elder Shepherd yelled in a voice that echoed around the ballpark, "Hit one up here, ya bum! I dare ya!" Gehrig did exactly that, hitting a screaming liner, practically into the heckler's lap, for the eventual game-winning home run. Shepherd's father was booed mercilessly, and he never again took the younger Jean to a game. Shepherd apparently told this story originally when Gehrig's widow was in the audience at a speaking engagement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Partridge |first=Ernest |title=Jean Shepherd&nbsp;– 1921–1999 |url=http://gadfly.igc.org/essays2/shepherd.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304172953/http://gadfly.igc.org/essays2/shepherd.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2008 |access-date=April 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>Gehrig hit eight home runs off Ted Lyons, two of them in Chicago: one in 1927 and another on June 25, 1936. The Yankees did indeed win this game by a single run, 7–6, but the homer was not hit in the ninth inning, but instead the second inning.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=June 25, 1936 New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox Play by Play and Box Score |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA193606250.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228171604/https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA193606250.shtml |archive-date=December 28, 2017 |access-date=July 11, 2017 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref>

Gehrig's digital likeness and the opening quote of the "baseball's [[Gettysburg Address]]" are featured in [[All-Star Baseball 2004|All Star Baseball 2004]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Habib Jackson |title=All Star Baseball 2004 Intro |date=August 19, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RHTUa1X1Y&t=29s |access-date=June 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502175005/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RHTUa1X1Y&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=May 2, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball|New York City}}
{{div col}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball home run records]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball doubles records]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball runs batted in records]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle]]
* [[Major League Baseball titles leaders]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Eig |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Eig |url=https://archive.org/details/luckiestmanlifea00eigj |title=Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig |date=2005 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743245913}}
* {{Cite book |last=Eisenberg |first=John |title=The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball's Most Historic Record |date=2017 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0544107670}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gallico |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Gallico |url=https://www.amazon.com/Gehrig-Pride-Yankees-Paul-Gallico/dp/B0006APPP4/ |title=Lou Gehrig, Pride of the Yankees |date=1942 |publisher=[[Grosset & Dunlap]] |asin=B0006APPP4}}
*{{Cite book |last=Gehrig |first=Lou |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYIqEAAAQBAJ |title=Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir |date=2020 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1982132392}}
* Kashatus, William C. ''Lou Gehrig: A Biography''. Greenwood Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-313-32866-8}}.
* {{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Mark |date=June 18, 2003 |title=Pride of the Yankees – The 100th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's birth |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/history/gehrig.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210221709/http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/history/gehrig.jsp |archive-date=February 10, 2016 |website=[[MLB.com]] |access-date=February 19, 2007 }}
* {{Cite web |last=Ray |first=James Lincoln |title=Lou Gehrig |url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ccdffd4c |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Ray |url=https://archive.org/details/ironhorselougehr00robi_0 |title=Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time |date=1990 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0393028577}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Sandomir |title=The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic |date=2017 |publisher=[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette Books]] |isbn=978-0316355056}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|collapsible=true|wikt=Lou Gehrig's disease|c=Category:Lou Gehrig|d=Q357444}}
* {{Official website|http://www.lougehrig.com/}}
* [https://www.alscenter.cuimc.columbia.edu Website] for the '''Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center''' at NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Medical Center
*{{Baseballhof|gehrig-lou}}
*{{Baseballstats|mlb=114680|espn=21958|br=g/gehrilo01|fangraphs=1004598|brm=gehrig001hen|retro=G/Pgehrl101}}
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{{Succession box| before = [[Ed Delahanty]] | title = [[Batters with 4 home runs in one game]]| years = June 3, 1932 | after = [[Chuck Klein]]}}
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{{Succession box|before = [[Everett Scott]]<br>(1925)|title = [[List of New York Yankees captains|New York Yankees team captain]]| years = April 21, 1935, to June 2, 1941|after =[[Thurman Munson]]<br>(1976)}}
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