Sawyer Weller ELA 1-2 Mrs. King Research Paper November 14, 2023 Gehrig: Life With ALS ALS is a horrible disease, ending lives and making them terrible. It can also make athletes weak, ending their careers. Unfortunately, ALS shortens lives. There is no cure for ALS, and this disease can affect anyone, even Lou Gehrig, the famous baseball player the disease is named after. ALS affects a great number of people. In America, there are about 30,000 people diagnosed with ALS. As of 2015, there are about 222,801 people in the world that have been diagnosed with ALS (NIH). ALS is a disease that causes muscles to stop working. Once diagnosed with this disease, life expectancy is only about two to five years. Once diagnosed, the limitations begin. Speech …show more content…
Gehrig is a famous person for his time in Major League Baseball. Gehrig signed in 1923 to one of the biggest baseball organizations, the New York Yankees. Gehrig was offered $3,500. When he signed to play in the MLB, there were only four months left in the season (Greenberger 23). Gehrig had a pretty good career in the MLB, being a seven-time All-Star, two-time American League Most Valuable Player, was a triple crown winner in 1934, and won the World Series seven times. Gehrig also was the first player in the MLB to have their number retired, which was number four (“The Iron Horse Lou Gehrig”). ALS had taken over Gehrig, forcing him to retire. He gave his touching farewell speech on July 4, 1939. Lou Gehrig said, “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans” (SI Staff). This shows Gehrig was grateful to his fans, and for their support. Also, being able to play baseball for seventeen