More than 13 minutes in length, this exclusive film reel from Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day includes several minutes of outtakes footage and audio not included in newsreel accounts of the historic Yankee Stadium gathering.
Held in front of more than 60,000 spectators between a New York Yankees-Washington Senators doubleheader on July 4, 1939, on-field ceremonies on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day included Gehrig’s delivery of what is perhaps the most famous speech in sports history.
Before the Gehrig ceremony, Senators pitcher Alejandro Carrasquel, the first Major League Baseball (MLB) player born in Venezuela, is honored on the field on the eve of Venezuela’s Independence Day. Footage from the game played after the Gehrig ceremony shows Carrasquel pitching and giving up a triple to George Selkirk in an 11-1 Yankees win.
In addition to the Manhattan born, raised and educated Gehrig, speakers on this reel include Yankees legend Babe Ruth, Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, United States Postmaster General James Farley, New York Times sports columnist John Kieran (presenting a framed gift) and emcee Sid Mercer. The Seventh Regiment Band plays music.
Gehrig speaks near Yankees teammates from 1927 and 1939, including 1927’s Ruth, Benny Bengough, Earle Combs (in Yankees uniform, in his capacity as a Yankees coach), Joe Dugan, Waite Hoyt, Mark Koenig, Tony Lazzeri, Bob Meusel, Herb Pennock and Bob Shawkey. Yankees president Ed Barrow (wearing glasses, a bow tie, and a light hat with a dark band) is seen on the field with Gehrig.
Also on the field were Wally Schang, Everett Scott and Wally Pipp, who were with the Yankees until 1925. When he replaced Pipp at first base for a game in 1925, Gehrig started a record streak of playing in the most consecutive major-league games. Scott was the previous record holder.
During his years with the Yankees, from 1923 to 1939, the stoic and reliable Gehrig had endeared himself to fans with his relentless excellence. He served as the Yankees’ captain over the last five years of his career. The Yankees won the World Series in 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939.
In 1934, Gehrig won the so-called Triple Crown, leading the American League - in fact, the majors - in batting average, home runs and RBIs. For a time, some regarded Gehrig as superhuman. That’s because of his most famous major league record, since broken, of playing in 2,130 straight games. His ubiquity came at a heavy price. Gehrig played through 17 hand fractures, a broken thumb, broken toes and back spasms. The Iron Horse, as he was called, largely ignored injuries that were later confirmed by x-rays.
Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak ended May 2, 1939. He never played another major league game.
Just over a month later, on Gehrig’s 36th birthday, it was announced that he had a rare, incurable disease: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Two days later, the Yankees announced his retirement from baseball. Many diseases, such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, are named for the scientists who identified them. Only Lou Gehrig’s Disease is named for a victim.
In a story published July 30, 1939, Daily News sportswriter Hy Turkin wrote of Gehrig’s speech, “If there were any angels perched on the fleecy clouds over Yankee Stadium on the sunblessed afternoon of July 4, 1939, they must have wept… That speech, objectively, was one of the greatest in history.”
The address is often called the "Luckiest Man" speech (taking a phrase Gehrig used within to describe himself) and as Gehrig's farewell address.
Less than two years after Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, 17 days shy of his 38th birthday, Gehrig died.
20 апр 2021
