Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech is arguably one of the finest displays of gratitude and humbleness in all of history. Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1939. Midway through the season, on July 4th, 1939, thousands of fans packed into Yankee Stadium to hear Lou Gehrig address for the fans for the last time.
Rhetorically, this was one of the finest speeches in sports history. Lou Gehrig primarily uses pathos to evoke emotion out of his audience. Keeping in mind that his main audience is a crowd of Yankee fans and the press, it wasn’t exactly hard to get to their soft spot, considering Gehrig’s reputation as a ball player and even as a person. Not only did his rhetoric “act” but it “acted” so well that even 75 plus years later, sports journalists and historians are still considering it one of the if not the best speech in Major League Baseball history. The speech was a mere 273 words, yet it was still so powerful. Not only did he use pathos effectively, he also used an optimistic tone all throughout. To consider himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” when he knew the disease he had was sure to kill him, he was expressing his gratitude towards the fans and everyone else in his life who was near and dear to him. To top it off, his use of parallel structure emphasizes his gratitude and humbleness. Throughout the speech he states something he is thankful for, and ends the sentence with, “that’s something.” By doing so, he is able to prove how “lucky” he truly was.
Lou Gehrig’s speech most certainly “effected valuable changes in reality” because he urged his listeners to be grateful for what they have, and to always count their blessings. He not only inflicted valuable changes in his fans, but to whoever else was listening (except maybe Red Sox fans). His speech wasn’t intended for Yankees fans alone, his message behind the speech can apply to absolutely anyone.