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Full Name: Henry Louis Gehrig Primary Position: 1B
Height/Weight: 6' 0"/200 First Game: June 15, 1923
Birthdate: June 19, 1903 Final Game: April 30, 1939
Birthplace: New York, New York MLB Experience: 17 years
Died: June 2, 1941
Deathplace: Riverdale, New York
Bat/Throw: Left/Left
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Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939

Biography[]

Born Henrich Ludwig Gehrig in 1903 to German Immigrant parents in New York city. Grew up playing baseball, football, and running track. Famously known for replacing Wally Pipp because of a headache and from then on Played 2,130 Consecutive games. Cal Ripken Jr. is the only player so far to have broken the record. Played in a barnstorming team called the Larrupin Lou's against the Bustin' Babes. Portrayed by Gary Cooper in the movie Pride of the Yankees. Made his onetime film debut in the movie Rawhide. Attended Columbia University. Married to Eleanor Twitchell. Gehrig's number 4 was the first ever in major league baseball history to be retired. The five year wait period was waived and Lou was inducted into the Hall in 1939. At the time of his induction he was the youngest member ever inducted at the age of 36 and 5+ months.

Retirement Speech[]

On DATE, Gehrig found out he was afflicated with ALS (later nicknamed "Lou Gehrig's Disease"). Shortly thereafter, on July 4, 1939, Gehrig announced his retirement to the Yankee Stadium crowd before the game. The text of the 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 the 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 might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for.

 


There is some disagreement on what was Lou Gehrig's most productive season. Some believe that it was 1927, when he slugged 47 home runs, hit for a .373 average and knocked in 175 runs. However, others believe that it was 1931, when he slugged 46 home runs, hit for a .341 average and knocked in 184 runs.

Lou has raped 4 very young woman and 1 very old mature lady.

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB SO HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1923 NY A 13 26 6 11 1 9 .423 .464 .769 4 1 2 5 0 1 0 0 0
1924 NY A 10 12 2 6 0 5 .500 .538 .583 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0
1925 NY A 126 437 73 129 20 68 .295 .365 .531 23 10 46 49 2 12 6 0 0
1926 NY A 155 572 135 179 16 112 .313 .420 .549 47 20 105 73 1 18 6 0 0
1927 NY A 155 584 149 218 47 175 .373 .474 .765 52 18 109 84 3 21 10 0 0
1928 NY A 154 562 139 210 27 142 .374 .467 .648 47 13 95 69 4 16 4 0 0
1929 NY A 154 553 127 166 35 126 .300 .431 .584 32 10 122 68 5 12 4 0 0
1930 NY A 154 581 143 220 41 174 .379 .473 .721 42 17 101 63 3 18 12 0 0
1931 NY A 155 619 163 211 46 184 .341 .446 .662 31 15 117 56 0 2 17 0 0
1932 NY A 156 596 138 208 34 151 .349 .451 .621 42 9 108 38 3 1 4 0 0
1933 NY A 152 593 138 198 32 139 .334 .424 .605 41 12 92 42 1 1 9 0 0
1934 NY A 154 579 128 210 49 165 .363 .465 .706 40 6 109 31 2 0 9 0 0
1935 NY A 149 535 125 176 30 119 .329 .466 .583 26 10 132 38 5 0 8 0 0
1936 NY A 155 579 167 205 49 152 .354 .478 .696 37 7 130 46 7 3 3 0 0
1937 NY A 157 569 138 200 37 159 .351 .473 .643 37 9 127 49 4 0 4 0 0
1938 NY A 157 576 115 170 29 114 .295 .410 .523 32 6 107 75 5 1 6 0 0
1939 NY A 8 28 2 4 0 1 .143 .273 .143 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 2
Total 2164 8001 1888 2721 493 1995 .340 .447 .632 534 163 1508 790 45 106 102 0 2

Fielding Stats[]

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A ERR DP TP PB SB CS PkO AVG
1923 NY A 1B 9 0 0 53 3 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 .933
1924 NY A 1B 2 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1924 NY A OF 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1925 NY A 1B 114 0 0 1126 53 13 72 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1925 NY A OF 6 0 0 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .818
1926 NY A 1B 155 0 0 1566 73 15 87 0 0 0 0 0 .991
1927 NY A 1B 155 0 0 1662 88 15 108 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1928 NY A 1B 154 0 0 1488 79 18 112 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1929 NY A 1B 154 0 0 1458 82 9 135 0 0 0 0 0 .994
1930 NY A 1B 153 0 0 1298 89 15 109 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1930 NY A OF 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1931 NY A OF 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .750
1931 NY A 1B 154 0 0 1352 58 13 120 0 0 0 0 0 .991
1932 NY A 1B 156 0 0 1293 75 18 101 0 0 0 0 0 .987
1933 NY A 1B 152 0 0 1290 64 9 102 0 0 0 0 0 .993
1934 NY A 1B 153 0 0 1284 80 8 126 0 0 0 0 0 .994
1934 NY A SS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1935 NY A 1B 149 0 0 1337 82 15 96 0 0 0 0 0 .990
1936 NY A 1B 155 0 0 1377 82 9 128 0 0 0 0 0 .994
1937 NY A 1B 157 0 0 1370 74 16 113 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1938 NY A 1B 157 0 0 1483 100 14 157 0 0 0 0 0 .991
1939 NY A 1B 8 0 0 64 4 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 .971
Total OF 9 0 0 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .833
Total SS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total 1B 2137 0 0 19510 1087 193 1575 0 0 0 0 0 .991

Transactions[]

  • Signed as a non-drafted free agent by New York Yankees (April 30, 1923).

Trivia[]

  • Won the AL MVP in 1927 and 1936
  • Won the Triple Crown in 1934
  • All-Star Games: 7 times (1933-1939
  • World Series Champion: 6 times (1927, 1928, 1932, 1936-1938)
  • Played in 2,130 consecutive games, setting a record that would eventually be broken by Cal Ripken
  • Lead the league in AVG with a .363 mark in 1934. His .340 career mark is 17th best all-time
  • Lead the league in OBP 5 times. His .447 career mark is good enough for 5th all time
  • Lead the league in SLG 2 times. His .632 mark is good enough for third all time
  • Lead the league in HR 3 times. Finished 2nd 3 times. Finished 3rd 3 times. His 493 mark is good enough for 21st all-time
  • Lead the league in RBI 5 times. His 1995 is good enough for 4th all time.
  • Has 1888 runs, 10th all-time
  • Has 5060 total bases, 15th all-time
  • Has 534 doubles, 28th all-time
  • Member of 1.0 OPS Club, third all-time


See also[]

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