TW Hit List - Lou Gehrig

The Pride of the Yankees. Considering the history and success of the franchise, it is quite an audacious title. But I’ve haven’t read or heard anyone who disputes it. Even decades after his retirement, who can doubt that Gehrig epitomizes the power, style and glory of the great Yankees? At least this is Williams’ opinion. After what we’ve said about Ruth, that he carried baseball on his shoulders in the twenties, what does it say about a man who played at the same time for the same team and emerged as a star in his own right, nearly as popular as Ruth at the time of his retirement? It says that he was one heck of a ballplayer. Lou Gehrig was simply a spectacular hitter and it is possible that no team will ever again have the one-two attack of Ruth and Gehrig.

In a day when they weren’t very many college ballplayers, Gehrig came from Columbia University, on a scholarship in baseball and football. He made it to the big club in 1923, but then did not claim the starting first base job until June 1, 1925, famously playing 2,130 consecutive games through April 30, 1939, a record which stood until Ripken broke it on September 6, 1995. The “Iron Horse” was finally put out of the game by the disease that now claims his name. The man who set a record of durability was defeated by a disease that completely stole his strength. “Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature.” His legend status was sealed by his fateful words spoken on July 4, 1939 to an admiring Yankee Stadium crowd, “Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

But Williams puts him at number two for his bat. The year that Ruth hit 60 home runs, it was Gehrig who lead the league in doubles and RBI’s and was voted MVP. He was two-time MVP and won the triple crown in 1934. He still holds the record for most career grand slams with 23. In the 1932 World Series, he hit .529 with three home runs and eight RBIs in only 17 at-bats. His career OPS of 1.080 is second only behind Ruth. He finished with 1,990 RBI’s despite barely breaking 8,000 at-bats, a remarkable RBI every four at-bats. The man was even know for being a very good runner and stole home 15 times in his career. He was a monster at the plate for pitchers, and Williams wonders what it must have been like for an opposing pitcher on a hot afternoon seeing Ruth and Gehrig back-to-back. At the end of it, Gehrig became the first player ever so-honoured by having his number retired by the New York Yankees.

I suspect none would dare speculate that he would be accused of foul play if he played today as “Phil” avers about Ruth in the combox. Phil is likely wrong about Ruth anyway, but who would question Gehrig? His beloved manger, Joe McCarthy, called him “the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman, and citizen that baseball has ever known.” That was spoken over sixty years ago, but it’s easy to think that Gehrig still holds the title.