Month: September 2018

Two years after his speech and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Lou Gehrig died two weeks before his birthday at the young age of 39 on June 2^nd, 1941.  70 years later, after 7 decades of technological development, a fad was sweeping the internet called the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.”  Basically the challenge entailed recording oneself dumping a bucket of ice water on their head, stating who challenged them, and challenging 3 other people to do it.  If the 3 nominees don’t complete the challenge within a 24 hour period of being challenged, they must make a donation to ALS research.

The Ice Bucket Challenge didn’t originally start as a fundraiser for ALS, rather, the first few actually went towards cancer research.  It wasn’t until July 2014 that the first recorded Ice Bucket Challenge was linked to ALS.  At this point, the challenge had not yet been linked with ALS, challengers would simply donate to a charity of their choice.  After the challenge began to be linked with ALS, it spread like wildfire.  By the time the fad began to die out, over 2.4 million posts had been made to Facebook along with thousands of donations to ALS research.  With plenty of ALS foundations across the globe, donations amounted to approximately $250 million.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge just goes to show the lasting impact that Lou Gehrig has left on the world.  Although it is rather indirect, the disease would not have had this much publicity at this point in time if it weren’t for him.  These foundations wouldn’t have been as well known, ALS would have never become known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”, and they wouldn’t have raised nearly as much money in that summer. It’s quite amazing how one person, one action, one little piece of history can still have so much relevance over 70 years later.

Celebrities like Tom Hanks completed the challenge, causing it to go even more viral.

Lou Gehrig, nicknamed the “Iron Horse”, was a New York Yankee legend who, little known fact, was a member of “murderer’s row”, the name for what is widely considered one of the best teams in history.  To top it off, he batted in the cleanup spot for this incredible team.  The cleanup spot is usually designated for the team’s most powerful hitter.  Lou Gehrig held the record for most consecutive games at 2,130 for 56 years until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995.  After 13 incredible years with the Yankees, the “Iron Horse” began to rust.  At the age of 36, Gehrig was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 1939.  Regarded as one of the most emotional and powerful speeches in all of baseball history, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech was sure to bring tears to Yankee fans’ eyes on July 4^th, 1939.  Lou Gehrig’s speech is arguably one of the finest displays of gratitude in all of baseball history.  What’s even more special about this speech is that he wasn’t planning on talking at the memorial service that day.  His speech truly came from the bottom of his heart and that what made it even more special.

On the 4^th of July in 1939 the Yankees held a ceremony for Lou Gehrig between a double header that day.  Many well-known Yankees, like Babe Ruth,  and several others stepped up to the podium that day and thanked Gehrig for all he brought to the team and the positive impact he left on the franchise.  Lou Gehrig was so overwhelmed with love and joy, he was too flustered to step up to the microphone and address the 60,000 plus fans watching him with watery eyes.  Thousands rose to their feet chanting “We want Lou!” as the ceremony was coming to a close.  Lou Gehrig was still reluctant, but the Yankee’s manager at the time, Joe McCarthy, gave him a few words of encouragement, and Gehrig finally stepped up to the podium.  As Lou Gehrig approached the podium, applause of encouragement turned into focused silence in a matter of seconds.  The following 274-word improvised speech would later be recognized as one of the greatest speeches in baseball history, and talked about for years to come.  His speech highlighted his gratitude and love he had for not only his teammates and the rest of the Yankee franchise, but everyone who helped him along the way.  Fans, friends, family, all those listening to that speech that day were flooded with emotions.  If anyone is to know one line from that speech, it’s this: “Today, I consider myself, the luckiest man, on the face of the earth.”  To be able to call himself the luckiest man in the world after being diagnosed with a deadly disease at the young age of 36, that shows an awful lot of humility and grace from Lou Gehrig.  His ability to be so grateful for everything in this horrible time in his life is truly a testament to his impeccable personality.  The speech just ties together how he is as a person.  Lou Gehrig has always been an optimistic, upstanding, and incredible person on and off the ball field.  The speech continues as he begins to list out all the things that he is grateful for—big and small.  From the gifts he receives from his fellow teammates and coaches to the unconditional love and support from his wife and family, Gehrig ties together his gratitude in the final line of the speech: “…I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”  What Gehrig means by this last line is that just because he has been diagnosed with this fatal disease, it doesn’t mean he’s going to give up; it’s not going to stop him from living his life.  The fans showed him so much love and support that it just goes to show how much he really has to be thankful for.  After this final line, as he stepped away from the podium tears not only began to build in the eyes of thousands of fans, but in his as well.

79 years later, critics still talk about the amazing display of gratitude that occurred on that day in 1939.  Gehrig’s ability to step up to the podium after being overwhelmed with love and appreciation, shows how grateful he is for everything that has been provided to him in his life.  The speech does an excellent job of highlighting what Gehrig is truly grateful for.  These things that have played such a huge role in his life allows him to say “I have an awful lot to live for” at the end of the speech.  The fact that this speech was improvised only adds to its emotional effect as well.  Lou Gehrig displayed his true colors that day and he left 120,000 eyes tearing up and 60,000 hands clapping in a showering of applause after the speech came to a close.