Biography
Lou Gehrig, known as baseball's "Iron Horse," once held the major league record for playing 2,130 consecutive games with the New York Yankees from 1925 to 1939. He finished his career with a .340 batting average, securing his place as one of the greatest hitters ever. Born Henry Louis Gehrig on June 19, 1903, in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, his parents, Heinrich and Christina Gehrig, were German immigrants. Of their four children, Lou was the only one to reach adulthood. A devoted mama’s boy, Lou lived with his parents until he married at age 30.
Lou attended New York public schools, including the High School of Commerce, where he excelled in baseball, football, and swimming. In his senior year, his team won the New York public school baseball championship. They faced Chicago’s top high school team at Wrigley Field in 1920. With the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, Lou hit a 3-2 pitch over right field to win the game, foreshadowing his future success.
To fulfill his parents’ wishes, Lou enrolled at Columbia University in 1922. Having briefly played for a professional baseball team the previous summer, he was ineligible for collegiate athletics for a year. After sitting out, he joined Columbia’s baseball and football teams, earning the nickname "Columbia Lou." When his father lost his job and his mother became ill, Lou left college to pursue professional baseball.
In June 1923, the New York Yankees signed him to a minor league contract, assigning him to their Hartford, Connecticut farm team, where he played for two seasons. Lou joined the Yankees’ major league lineup on June 1, 1925, replacing first baseman Wally Pipp. For the next 14 years, he did not miss a single game. Lou made an immediate impact, leading the American League with 20 triples in his second season. In 1927, the six-foot, 210-pound left-hander emerged as a powerful slugger, challenging teammate Babe Ruth for the home run title. He finished second with 47 home runs to Ruth’s 60, batted .373, and set a major league record with 175 RBIs. That year, Lou was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and helped the Yankees win the World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite considering sitting out the series to care for his ill mother, Lou played through it.
For the next 13 consecutive seasons, Lou hit more than 100 home runs, including a career-high 46 homers and 184 RBIs in 1931. On June 3, 1932, he set another major league record by hitting four home runs in a single game against the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1933, Lou married Eleanor Twitchell, who supported him through the challenges of professional baseball. Before his 2,000th consecutive game in 1938, Eleanor suggested that Lou end his streak at 1,999 games, fearing he was becoming obsessed. Nevertheless, Lou continued, playing 130 more games.
During spring training in 1939, Lou began experiencing weakness and coordination difficulties. On May 2, 1939, he ended his consecutive game streak by removing himself from the lineup. Concerned about his condition, Lou underwent tests at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. On his 36th birthday, June 19, 1939, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare, incurable disease that causes muscle function to deteriorate, leading to paralysis and eventually death.
After retiring from baseball in 1939, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia appointed Lou as the city’s parole commissioner, a position he held until his health deteriorated in early 1941. Lou Gehrig passed away from ALS on June 2, 1941, at age 37. His widespread fame led to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis becoming widely known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
