Saturday, June 2, 2007

Pride Of The Yankees

My first hero as a child, outside of cartoon characters with superpowers, was the legendary Yankees first baseman, Lou Gehrig. First captain in franchise history, Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse because of his 2,130 consecutive game streak that stood as a record for fifty-six years following his career. His work ethic and dependability were surpassed only by his incredible production. Despite being overshadowed throughout his career, first by Babe Ruth and later by Joe DiMaggio, Gehrig remained the heart and soul of what's since become an immortal club.

Gehrig succumbed to ALS sixty-six years ago today. Two years before his death, he stood on the field at Yankee Stadium surrounded by the 1927 and 1939 Yankees, and delivered the following farewell speech to his fans:

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 this 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 may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.  

Posted by Judah in:  Hoops, Hardball & Fisticuffs   

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