Lou Gehrig Essay

Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig was born in Yorkville, New York ( New York City) on June 19, 1903. During his career in baseball, Lou was a legendary player averaging .340 batting, 2721 hits, and 1995 RBI’s ( runs batted in) with the Yankees. Sadly his career and life ended too early because he was diagnosed with the disease ALS, which is a disease that weakens the muscles and hurts physical function. The disease is now called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Lou Gehrig was a great man and baseball player because he grew up poor, strived to be better, created a legacy, and after baseball was an active man in the community. Lou Gehrig loved sports when he was a child, but he could not play them as much as he would have liked because he family was poor. He was born to the parents of Heinrich and Christina Gehrig. His parents had immigrated from Germany

He never played again because Lou was so good. In his career he had 1995 runs batted in (RBI), 493 home runs, and 2721 hits. When Gehrig played he batted and threw left handed. In 1935 he had the best season in his career and won the American League MVP award. By the time he retired he had played in 2,130 consecutive games. Lou had his first subpar season in 1938 but still averaged a .295 batting percentage. But he had health issues and had to take himself out of the game on May 2, 1939. After this Lou Gehrig was one of the first diagnosed with ALS in June 1939. He came back on July 4 to give a speech of a lifetime, even though he had been diagnosed with ALS, he said, “ I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Immediately after he retired from baseball, Major League Baseball inducted him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Until he died he was very active in his community. Lou Gehrig died quietly in his sleep in his New York home on June