the iron horse

In keeping with my resolution to read more, I just finished the book Iron Horse - Lou Gehrig in his time, by Ray Robinson. As the title might suggest, it is a biography of Lou Gehrig, one of the best baseball players of all time.

I always liked Lou Gehrig. Now I like him more. Growing up a huge fan of Cal Ripken, the "other Iron Man" of baseball and Oriole great, I was also, by the transitive property of record breaking, a Lou Gehrig fan. On Sept. 6, 1995, Ripken would break one of the greatest records in all of sports - consecutive games played in baseball, 2130 - once held by Lou Gehrig. I will never forget when Ripken broke the record. Get this - Ripken received a 22 minute standing ovation after breaking the record - 22 minutes. It was one of the greatest moments I can remember in my life. You might think it shallow, but there is something special about sport that has always been close to my soul.

When Ripken broke the consecutive games record, the emotion and fanfare that accompanied were special not only because of the record, but because of who the record belonged to. Gehrig was special. In a time of athletes holding out over millions of dollars via free agency, baseball fixed in the middle of drug scandals and steroid policies, players plastering humiliating comments on the front pages of newspapers (see T.O.), and other offenses, Gehrig (and Ripken) were consummate team players. Dedicated. Humble. Amazing.

Gehrig wore pinstripes his whole career. He had Yankee blood running through his veins. But many never understood, nor did I, until reading this book, just how great a player and man Gehrig was. He batted in the shadow of other Yankee greats like Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio and retired when Mickey Mantle was coming up through the system. A .340 lifetime hitter, he was sandwiched in between other great Yankees who were always in the spot light. It didn't matter.

One story I loved in the book was about the famous "Called Shot" by the Babe. What most people didn't know was that Gehrig hit a longer and greater homer on the next at bat. No one remembers this World Series moment. It was how Gehrigs career went. Still, he produced like few others in baseball ever have.

At the sake of retelling the whole book, the whole reason I write this post now is because of his farewell speech, one of the greatest moments in history - not just baseball history. Really. To appreciate this bold comment, you have to appreciate the times. The USA had just come out of the depression and was entering into a another great war against a certain dictator named Hitler. Baseball was America's game. Newspapers at the time, often carried stories of baseball on the front page to encourage people, to generate some pride during tough economic times. Gehrig was paid an annual salary of $27,000.

When Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS (now known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) he was practically at the prime of his career. He had everything going for him and he was a beloved star of the public - a baseball player. The disease slowly killed him, eventually ending his consecutive games streak at 2130 games. As a final farewell to Gehrig, the Yankees played tribute to him by bestowing gifts and playing a game as a memorial to him. He was not dead, but he was no longer able to play. Overcome by emotion, he walked to the microphone that night and delivered one of the greatest speeches ever:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? 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 may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

Maybe you don't or can't appreciate the magnitude of this speech, but as a baseball lover, a sports lover - it brings me to tears. Pick up the book, see for yourself.