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Lou Gehirg (1939 N.Y. Yankees )
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I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." (Yankee Stadium, New York City, July 4, 1939)
On July 4, 1939, a tribute was held to retiring baseball player Lou Gehrig at New York's Yankee Stadium. During the ceremony, Gehrig accepted numerous awards, retired his number, and spoke to the stadium crowd about his fatal illness and undying love of baseball. Gehrig, who played his entire seventeen-year major league career with the New York Yankees, was often overshadowed by fellow Yankee greats Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. However, the "Iron Horse," as admirers knew him, had a lifetime batting average of .340 and won honors for his spectacular performances during Yankee championships games. But his most distinguished record was most consecutive games played: 2,130. Eight games into the 1939 season, Gehrig ended the streak when he voluntarily pulled himself from the lineup. Complaining of diminishing strength, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare neurological disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of motor cells in the spinal cord and brain. His courage in the face of the tragic illness was an inspiration to many, and on July 4, "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" was held at Yankee Stadium. The following December, he was unanimously elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In the last two years of his life, Lou Gehrig served as a parole commissioner in New York City, hoping to make a difference in the lives of young people in trouble. He died on June 2, 1941. After his wife's death, Gehrig's entire estate went to research of ALS, which is commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."
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Babe Ruth (1947 N.Y. Yankees)
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The only real game, I think, in the world, is baseball. (Yankee Stadium, New York City, April 27, 1947)
On April 27, 1947, baseball legend Babe Ruth, diagnosed with a terminal case of throat cancer, attended "Babe Ruth Day" at Yankee Stadium. "The Bambino," as he was known to his millions of fans, spoke that day of his love of baseball and his new position as director of baseball for the American Legion. Ruth, who had a colorful personality and an unmistakable physical presence, began his major league career in Baltimore in 1914. That same year he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, and over the next five years proved himself as a formidable left-handed pitcher and batter. In 1919, he was sold to the New York Yankees, where he played outfield to better exploit his phenomenal hitting talents. At a time when Baseball was suffering through the disgrace of the Black Sox scandal, Ruth almost single-handedly salvaged the sport's popularity, hitting a record 60-home runs in the 1927 season and leading the Yankees to seven pennants. Yankee Stadium, opened in 1923, came to be known as "the House that Ruth Built." However, Babe also made headlines by his charitable actions, such as visiting sick children in hospitals. In 1935, he retired from baseball, having hit a record 714 home runs in his career. In 1946, Ruth was diagnosed with throat cancer, but the doctors could do little. Early the next year, treatment ended. On April 27, 1947, Babe Ruth Day was held at Yankee Stadium, and on June 13, 1948, a uniformed Ruth appeared there one last time to retire his number. On August 16, 1948, he died. For two days, his body lay in state at the main entrance to Yankee Stadium, and tens of thousands of people stood in line to pay their last respects. He was buried in Hawthorne, New York.
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