Henry Louis ("Lou") Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an American baseball player in the first half of the twentieth century. He set several Major League and American League records and was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball Writers' Association.), he won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936 and was a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBI.
His popularity with fans endures to this day, as is evidenced by him being one of the leading vote-getters on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen in 1999.

Career Grand Slams: 23
Highest Career Slugging Percentage by a First Baseman: .632
AL MVP: 1927, 1936
Seven-time MLB All-Star: 1933-1939 (DNP 1939)
Led the league in home runs: 1934 (49) & 1936 (49)
Led the league in RBIs: 1927 (175), 1928 (142), 1930 (174), 1931 (184) & 1934 (165)
Led the league in times on base: 1927 (330), 1930 (324), 1931 (328), 1934 (321), 1936 (342) & 1937 (331)
Led the league in batting average (.363), home runs (49), and RBIs (165) in 1934, resulting in a Triple Crown
Career batting average: .340 (2,721-for-8,001)
Played in 2,130 consecutive games: June 1, 1925 to April 30, 1939 Early life
Gehrig joined the Yankees midway through the 1923 season and made his debut on June 15, 1923, as a pinch hitter. In his first two seasons, Gehrig saw limited playing time, mostly as a pinch hitter — he played in only 23 games and was not on the Yankees' 1923 World Series roster. In 1925, he batted 437 times for a very respectable .295 batting average with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs.
Gehrig's breakout season came in 1926. He batted .313 with 47 doubles, an American League leading 20 triples, 16 home runs, and 112 RBIs. In the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Gehrig hit .348 with two doubles and 4 RBI's. The Cardinals won a seven-game series, winning four games to three.
In 1927, Gehrig put up one of the greatest seasons by any batter in history. That year, Gehrig hit .373, with 218 hits: 52 doubles, 20 triples, 47 home runs, 175 runs batted in, and a .765 slugging percentage. His 117 extra-base hits that season are second all-time to Babe Ruth's 119 extra base hits in 1921 and his 447 total bases are third all-time to Babe Ruth's 457 total bases in 1921 and Rogers Hornsby's 450 in 1922. Gehrig's great season helped the 1927 Yankees to a 110-44 record, the AL pennant, and a four-game sweep over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1927 World Series. Although the AL recognized his season by naming him league MVP, his season was overshadowed by Babe Ruth's 60 home run season and the overall dominance of the 1927 Yankees, a team often cited as having the greatest lineup of all time — the famed Murderers' Row.
Gehrig established himself as a bona fide star in his own right despite playing in the shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career. Gehrig became one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. Gehrig had 509 RBI during a three-season stretch (1930-32). Only two other players, Jimmie Foxx with 507 and Hank Greenberg with 503, have surpassed 500 RBI in any three seasons; their totals were non-consecutive. (Babe Ruth had 498.) Gehrig had six seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), plus a seventh season at .349. He had 8 seasons with 150 or more RBI's, 11 seasons with over 100 walks, 8 seasons with 200 or more hits, and 5 seasons with more than 40 home runs. Gehrig led the American League in runs scored 4 times, home runs 3 times, and RBIs 5 times. His 184 RBIs in 1931 is still an American League record (and second all-time to Hack Wilson's 191 RBI's in 1930). Three of the top six RBI seasons in baseball history were Gehrig's.
During the 10 seasons (1925-1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were both Yankees and played a majority of games, Gehrig only had more home runs in 1934, when he hit 49 compared to Ruth's 22. (Ruth played 125 games that year.) They tied at 46 in 1931. Ruth had 424 home runs compared to Gehrig's 347 — 22.2% more. Gehrig had more RBIs in 7 years (1925, 1927, 1930-1934) and they tied in 1928. Ruth had 1,316 RBIs compared to Gehrig's 1,436, with Gehrig having 9.9% more. Gehrig had more hits in 8 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930-34). Gehrig had a higher slugging percentage in 2 years (1933-34). And Gehrig had a higher batting average in 7 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930, 1932-34). For that span, Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth.
On June 3, 1932, Gehrig hit four home runs in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics and narrowly missed another one when he hit a deep fly ball to center field and center fielder Al Simmons made an amazing leaping catch to get him out. After the game, Manager Joe McCarthy told him, "Well, Lou, nobody can take today away from you..." However, on that same day, John McGraw chose to announce his retirement after 30 years of managing the New York Giants, and so McGraw, not Gehrig, got the headlines in the sports sections the next day and Gehrig, as usual, had second-place treatment.

Major League Baseball career
On June 1, 1925, Gehrig was sent in to pinch hit for light-hitting shortstop Paul "Pee Wee" Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp was in a slump, as were the Yankees as a team, so Huggins made several lineup changes to boost their performance. Fourteen years later, Gehrig had played 2,130 consecutive games. In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch hitting appearances and fortuitous timing; in others, the streak continued despite injuries. Late in life, X-rays disclosed that Gehrig had sustained several fractures during his playing career. For example:
Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played stood until September 6, 1995, when Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game to establish a new record.

On April 23, 1933, Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehall beaned Gehrig, knocking him nearly unconscious. Still, Gehrig recovered and was not removed from the game.
On June 14, 1933, Gehrig was ejected from the game, along with manager Joe McCarthy, but he had already been at bat, so he got credit for playing the game.
On July 13, 1934, Gehrig suffered a "lumbago attack" and had to be assisted off the field. In the next day's away game, he was listed in the lineup as "shortstop", batting lead-off. In his first and only plate appearance, he singled and was promptly replaced by a pinch runner to rest his throbbing back, never actually taking the field. 2,130 consecutive games
At the midpoint of the 1938 season, Gehrig's performance began to diminish. At the end of that season, he said, "I tired midseason. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again." Although his final 1938 stats were respectable (.295 batting average, 114 RBI's, 170 hits, .523 slugging percentage, 758 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs), it was a dramatic drop from his 1937 season (when he batted .351 and slugged .643). In the 1938 post-season his batting average was .286 and all four of his hits were singles (for an unusually low .286 slugging percentage).
When the Yankees began their 1939 spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida, it was obvious that Gehrig no longer possessed his once-formidable power. Even Gehrig's baserunning was affected. Throughout his career, Gehrig was considered an excellent runner on the basepaths, but as the 1939 season got underway, his coordination and speed had deteriorated significantly.
By the end of April, his statistics were the worst of his career, with just 1 RBI and a .143 batting average. Fans and the press openly speculated on Gehrig's abrupt decline. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, said in one article:
He was indeed meeting the ball, with only one strikeout in 28 at-bats. But Joe McCarthy found himself resisting pressure from Yankee management to switch Gehrig to a part-time role. Things came to a head when Gehrig had to struggle to make a routine put-out at first base. The pitcher, Johnny Murphy, had to wait for Gehrig to drag himself over to the bag so he could catch Murphy's throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou." That was the thing Gehrig dreaded — his teammates felt they had to congratulate him on simple plays like put-outs.
On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the weak Washington Senators. Gehrig had just played his 2,130th consecutive Major League game.
On May 2, the next game after a day off, Gehrig approached McCarthy before the game and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe." McCarthy acquiesced and put Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig wanted to play again, the position was his. Gehrig himself took the lineup card out to the shocked umpires before the game, ending the 14-year stamina streak. Before the game began, the stadium announcer told the fans, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time Lou Gehrig's name will not appear on the Yankee lineup in 2,130 consecutive games." The Detroit Tigers fans gave Gehrig a standing ovation while he sat on the bench with tears in his eyes. Gehrig stayed with the Yankees as team captain for a few more weeks, but he never played baseball again.

Illness
As Lou Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, Eleanor called the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her call was transferred to Dr. Charles William Mayo, who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Dr. Mayo told Eleanor to bring Gehrig as soon as possible.
Eleanor and Lou flew to Rochester from Chicago, where the Yankees were playing at the time, arriving at the Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. After six days of extensive testing at Mayo Clinic, the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was confirmed on June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday.

Diagnosis
On June 21, the New York Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement and proclaimed July 4, 1939, "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" at Yankee Stadium. Between games of the Independence Day doubleheader against the Washington Senators, the poignant ceremonies were held on the diamond. In its coverage the following day, The New York Times said it was "Perhaps as colorful and dramatic a pageant as ever was enacted on a baseball field [as] 61,808 fans thundered a hail and farewell". She joined Lou Gehrig in death on March 6, 1984, on her 80th birthday. They had no children.
The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig in centerfield at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941, the shrine lauding him as, "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time." Gehrig's monument joined the one placed there in 1932 to Miller Huggins, which would eventually be followed by Babe Ruth's in 1949. Upon Gehrig's monument rests an actual bat used by him, now bronzed.
Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan, 1994 Second Avenue (near E. 103rd Street), is memorialized with a plaque marking the site. Another early residence on E. 94th Street (near Second Avenue) is noted with a plaque. The Gehrigs' house at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Bronx, where Lou Gehrig died, still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque.
In a strange coincidence, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, who pitched in three World Series while with the Yankees, also died from the rare disease in 1999.

"The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"
Career Statistics

Major League Baseball career records

Runs-batted-in by a first baseman: 184 (1931; also the American League record)
Runs scored by a first baseman: 167 (1936)
Highest slugging percentage by a first baseman: .765 (1927)
Extra Base Hits, by a first baseman: 121 (1927)
Most total bases by a first baseman: 447 (1927) Major League Baseball single-season records

Home Runs: 4 (June 3, 1932, vs. Philadelphia Athletics, at Shibe Park) (held with 14 other players) Major League Baseball single-game records

Inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame: 1939
American League MVP: 1927, 1936 (runner-up in 1931 and 1932)
Named to seven All-Star teams (1933–1939); played in six (retired before 1939 All-Star Game)
Ranked #2 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, chosen in 1999.
Named starting first baseman on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team (1999) — Gehrig received more votes than any other player
The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in his honor and is given to players who best exemplify Lou Gehrig's character and integrity both on and off the field. Since the award was created in 1955, the name of each winner has been placed on the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Awards

Triple Crown winner in 1934 (.363 BA, 49 HR, 165 RBI)
Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons (1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936)
With Stan Musial, one of two players to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 400 home runs in a career
One of only six players (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams were the others) to end their career with a minimum .320 batting average, 350 home runs, and 1,500 RBI
Only player to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season non-consecutively (1927, 1930, 1934)
Scored game-winning run in 8 World Series games
First athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties
First baseball player to have his uniform number retired
July 4, 1939 farewell speech was voted by fans as the fifth greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002
A Lou Gehrig 25 cent USA Postage Stamp was issued in 1989. Scott number 2417 See also

In 1942, the life of Lou Gehrig was immortalized in the movie The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 Academy Award nominations and won in one category, Film Editing. Real-life Yankees Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig and Bill Dickey (then still an active player) played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern.
In 1978, a TV movie, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story was released, starring Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann as Eleanor and Lou Gehrig, respectively. It was based on the 1976 autobiography My Luke and I, written by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso.