It was 85 years ago this week that, between games of a Fourth of July doubleheader against the Washington Senators, that the New York Yankees paid tribute to eventual Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig.
This is when Gehrig approached the phalanx of microphones near homeplate and addressed over 60,000 fans at Yankee Stadium and uttered his famous phrase, “luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
If you’ve never reviewed Gehrig’s statistics please do yourself the favor and take a look at his Baseball-Reference page. Like many, your editor had reduced him to both his 2,160 consecutive games played streak as well as his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). During the 14 seasons he was the Yankees’ regular first baseman, in at least one season he led the American League in every notable offensive category except At Bats and Stolen Bases. That is: Plate Appearances, Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, RBIs, Walks, Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, On-Base Percentage, On-Base Plus Slugging, and Total Bases. He finished in the top five in MVP voting nine times and won the award twice.
Truly a remarkable player.
Here is the full text of Gehrig’s speech:
“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.”
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