On This Date in Sports May 2, 1939: Lou Sits
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The streak comes to an end at 2,130 games, as Lou Gehrig asks Joe McCarthy to take him out of the lineup before a game against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium. Gehrig had been struggling with weakness and fatigue, had not missed a game since May 31, 1925. He would not play again as the weakness would turn out to be ALS, a deadly nerve disease that would carry his name.
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Called the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig was born in New York on June 19, 1903, the son of German immigrants. A well-educated man, Gehrig caught the eye of Yankee scouts, while playing baseball at Columbia University. Making his debut in 1923, Lou Gehrig spent two seasons on the bench before finally getting his chance in 1925.
It was June 2, 1925, when Lou Gehrig got the start over Wally Pipp who had a headache. Gehrig would be in the Yankees starting lineup every day for the next 14 years after that day, playing in a record 2,130 straight games. Over that time Lou Gehrig became one of the best players in baseball, but he was allowed him a quiet greatness as he was overshadowed first by Babe Ruth and then by the arrival of Joe DiMaggio in 1936.
In playing 2,130 straight games, Lou Gehrig became one of the top stars in the game, winning two MVP awards in 1927 and 1936. In total he tallied, a lifetime .340 lifetime average, with 493 home runs and 1995 RBI, as he played in the first six All-Star Games as he also hit a record 23 Grand Slams. As the Yankees became regulars in the World Series, Lou Gehrig became one of the best players in the history of the Fall Classic, with a .361 average and ten home runs in seven World Series appearances.
As the Yankees were winning a third straight World Series in 1938, Lou Gehrig had a troubling second half. While his numbers were still above average for most players they were of his normal output. When he reported spring training in St. Petersburg, Gehrig was bothered by muscle fatigue and appeared to have lost a step in every phase of the game, as his bat slowed, his speed was gone, and he lacked coordination in the field. In the first eight games of the season, Lou Gehrig had just four singles in 28 at-bats and was batting .143.
After an off day on May 1st, Lou Gehrig went to manager Joe McCarthy and asked out of the lineup when the Yankees were starting a road trip at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Over a 14-year period, Lou Gehrig played n 2,130 straight games, breaking the record of 1,308 straight games held by Everett Scott. In that time the Iron Horse played through a variety of injuries including, broken fingers and a sore back in 1934, that doctors say could have been the first warning signs of his illness.
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With Babe Dahlgren playing first base for Gehrig the Yankees pummeled the Detroit Tigers 22-2, as Gehrig’s replacement went 2-for-five with a home run. Lou Gehrig would remain the captain of the New York Yankees, but he never played again. Six weeks after removing himself from the lineup, Lou Gehrig learned exactly what went wrong as he was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) which would become better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The condition was responsible for his loss of power and speed as it was a progressive weakening of the muscles.
After the diagnosis, the Hall of Fame waived all waiting periods and added Lou Gehrig to the induction ceremonies as the new building opened in Cooperstown. The Yankees also retired his #4 on July 4th leading to his famous speech. The condition to which there still is no cure would lead to Lou Gehrig’s death on June 2, 1941.