Lou Gehrig

**^{You’d think it’d be exhausting shaking all those hands.}**
**^{Not for this fella, apparently.}**

If it seemed to baseball fans of the 1980s and 1990s that Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. was always in the lineup … well, that’s because he was!

For 16 consecutive seasons Ripken was either at shortstop or third base for the Orioles. On September 6, 1995, he surpassed the consecutive games played mark established 56 seasons earlier by Lou Gehrig (2,130) when the Iron Horse was famously sidelined due to his physical struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) now more commonly known as Lou Gehrig Disease. Like he did the previous two games against the visiting California Angels, Ripken homered; this time following his achievement’s celebration. The streak began on May 30, 1992 in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ripken’s streak came to an end at 2,632 consecutive games just over three seasons later when he took himself out of the lineup on September 20, 1998 during the Orioles’ home finale against the New York Yankees. He was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007; his first year of eligibility.

^{This video captures the final outs before the September 6, 1995 game became official and the subsequent ovation and lap that Ripken took around Camden Yards to acknowledge the fans.}

^{Here’s the moment Ripken’s streak ended on September 20, 1998.}

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

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.”

^{New York Yankees’ first baseman Lou Gehrig played 2,130 straight games, but his most famous moment on a baseball field was likely this speech on July 4, 1939 (85 years ago this week). Gehrig called himself “the luckiest man on the face of this earth” in his 277-word speech to the crowd at Yankee Stadium, only weeks after being diagnosed with the incurable neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS), which now bears his name. (Photo from the Corbis/Bettmann Archive)}

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.”

^{This historical film reel footage of Lou Gehrig Day includes both audio/video and just video.}

Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

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