Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig; June 19, 1903 â€"
June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who
played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York
Yankees (1923â€"1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter
and for his durability, which earned him his nickname "The Iron
Horse". He was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown
winner once, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice, and a
member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career .340
batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on base average. He
hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBI). He still has the
highest ratio of runs scored plus runs batted in per 100 plate
appearances (35.08) and per 100 games (156.7) among Hall of Fame
players. In 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was
the first MLB player to have his uniform number (4) retired by a
team.A native of New York City and a student at Columbia University,
Gehrig signed with the Yankees in 1923. He set several major-league
records during his career, including the most career grand slams (23)
(since broken by Alex Rodriguez) and most consecutive games played
(2,130), a record that stood for 56 years and was long considered
unbreakable until surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr., in 1995. 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 on the field became hampered by amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, an incurable neuromuscular illness; it is now commonly
referred to in North America as "Lou Gehrig's disease". The disease
forced him to retire at age 36, and was the cause of his death two
years later. The pathos of his farewell from baseball was capped off
by his iconic 1939 "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at
Yankee Stadium. 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 MLB All-Century Team chosen by fans in
1999. A monument in Gehrig's honor, originally dedicated by the
Yankees in 1941, currently resides in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to the MLB player who
best exhibits Gehrig's integrity and character.Gehrig was born in 1903
at 309 East 94th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan; he
weighed almost 14 pounds (6.4 kg) at birth. He was the second of four
children of German immigrants, Christina Foch (1881â€"1954) and
Heinrich Gehrig (1867â€"1946). His father was a 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
the family. His two sisters died at an early age from whooping cough
and measles; a brother also died in infancy. From an early age, Gehrig
helped his mother with work, doing tasks such as folding laundry and
picking up supplies from the local stores. Gehrig spoke German during
his childhood, not learning English until the age of five. In 1910 he
lived with his parents at 2266 Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights.
In 1920 the family resided on 8th Avenue in Manhattan. His name was
often anglicized to Henry Louis Gehrig and he was known as "Lou" so he
would not be confused with his identically named father, who was known
as Henry.
June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who
played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York
Yankees (1923â€"1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter
and for his durability, which earned him his nickname "The Iron
Horse". He was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown
winner once, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice, and a
member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career .340
batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on base average. He
hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBI). He still has the
highest ratio of runs scored plus runs batted in per 100 plate
appearances (35.08) and per 100 games (156.7) among Hall of Fame
players. In 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was
the first MLB player to have his uniform number (4) retired by a
team.A native of New York City and a student at Columbia University,
Gehrig signed with the Yankees in 1923. He set several major-league
records during his career, including the most career grand slams (23)
(since broken by Alex Rodriguez) and most consecutive games played
(2,130), a record that stood for 56 years and was long considered
unbreakable until surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr., in 1995. 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 on the field became hampered by amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, an incurable neuromuscular illness; it is now commonly
referred to in North America as "Lou Gehrig's disease". The disease
forced him to retire at age 36, and was the cause of his death two
years later. The pathos of his farewell from baseball was capped off
by his iconic 1939 "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at
Yankee Stadium. 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 MLB All-Century Team chosen by fans in
1999. A monument in Gehrig's honor, originally dedicated by the
Yankees in 1941, currently resides in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to the MLB player who
best exhibits Gehrig's integrity and character.Gehrig was born in 1903
at 309 East 94th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan; he
weighed almost 14 pounds (6.4 kg) at birth. He was the second of four
children of German immigrants, Christina Foch (1881â€"1954) and
Heinrich Gehrig (1867â€"1946). His father was a 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
the family. His two sisters died at an early age from whooping cough
and measles; a brother also died in infancy. From an early age, Gehrig
helped his mother with work, doing tasks such as folding laundry and
picking up supplies from the local stores. Gehrig spoke German during
his childhood, not learning English until the age of five. In 1910 he
lived with his parents at 2266 Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights.
In 1920 the family resided on 8th Avenue in Manhattan. His name was
often anglicized to Henry Louis Gehrig and he was known as "Lou" so he
would not be confused with his identically named father, who was known
as Henry.
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