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Why Is Lou Gehrig Important

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Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse Baseball is a game that is deep rooted in America’s history and goes back for decades. Over the years those who have played the game have risen to fame and fallen. One of those players that will forever be immortalized as a great is the Yankees’ legend, Lou Gehrig. This man was the face of baseball for thirteen years and still maintains popularity after being dead for seventy five years. Overall Lou Gehrig was an extraordinary man characterized by a humble beginning, great baseball performances, and a tragic death. Henry Louis Gehrig was born June 19, 1903 to Christina and Heinrich Gehrig. Lou was born and raised in New York City but his family did not have it easy. Lou was the only child in his family to survive …show more content…

Lou was there to pursue an engineering degree but never finished. Although Lou was at Columbia on a football scholarship, he achieved more success in baseball. In fact Lou was suspended his first season of football for playing professional baseball (Gehrig). Lou continued to shine as an athlete until his sophomore year when a Yankee scout saw his true potential. Paul Krichell, a Yankee scout was so impressed by Gehrig’s abilities that he offered him a spot on the team. Lou accepted and received a fifteen hundred dollar signing bonus as well as the chance to play professionally. Gehrig spent the rest of that season and the next year training at a minor league team in Hartford, New York. Finally in 1925, Lou became a starter for the New York Yankees. A title he would hold for the next thirteen years …show more content…

He was a worrier: always afraid he would lose his job or disappoint the fans. Because of this Gehrig maintained a streak of two thousand one hundred and thirty games that he at least played in. In fact, his teammates began calling him the “Iron Horse” because he played through pain and broken bones. This streak was not broken until Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995. Lou was truly an incredible ball player that put up shocking stats every year. Lou even won the triple crown, a feat of leading batting average. RBIs, and home runs in a season. Only seventeen players in the history of baseball have ever accomplished this task (Biography). But as Pipp aged out of the team, Lou also had his time to go with the

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Seventy-seven years ago, on July 4th, a man whose expertise was on the baseball diamond, more considerably than in speechmaking, distributed one of the most effective, memorable and inspiring speeches of all time. This man’s name was Lou Gehrig, and it took this man relatively two minutes, to where he was able to echo not only his own thoughts of his retirement from baseball and his disease, but also the ideas and perspectives of his fans and the American people during his era. Lou Gehrig’s sendoff presentation, including the famous preceding quote, rendered many rhetorical strategies so that he is able to convey themes and emotions that, especially during the time period circa 1930s, were very important to not only his loyal fans but to all

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Calvin Edwin "Cal" Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed "The Iron Man",[1] is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his position's most offensively productive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken is best known for holding the record for consecutive games played, 2,632, surpassing Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable.

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“Jackie Robinson.” For many, when people hear this name they may only think of Robinson as the first African American baseball player. However, not only was Jackie Robinson one of the most talented baseball players, when he was not making a difference on the field, he was making a difference in the world. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, his skills rewarded him with Rookie of the Year, National League MVP, and a World Series Champion. During his career he completed 19 home runs and finished with a batting average of 3.11.

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Lou Gehrig, a professional baseball player who spent his whole career with the New York Yankees from 1923 through 1939, playing 17 seasons. During his career, Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS, a condition that would end his career and cause him to lose control of his muscles. In 1939, Lou Gehrig's gave a speech to his fans regarding his illness and retirement. His speech quickly gained recognition and influenced the famous “Ice Bucket Challenge” that gained popularity all around the world, allowing for over $115 million to be raised for an ALS movement. Gehrig used repetition in his address to emphasize how fortunate he was to spend a happy and fulfilled life despite his conditio For instance, during this speech, Lou Gehrig constantly used rhetorical questions such as "Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert?" and even "To have spent six years with that great little fellow, Miller Huggins?"

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He went to college at Columbia on a football scholarship but ended up playing football and baseball for Columbia. He was immediately recruited by the New York Yankees once spotted by a scout. Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games and helped lead the Yankees to a world series. The first baseman was a vital part of the New York Yankees and became the team MVP and a very respected player to all. Gehrig’s speech also uses Ethos when he says, “I have been in ballparks for seventeen years”.

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Babe Ruth was and still is one of the most influential baseball players in American history. He shows many different examples of being a leader throughout his whole baseball career, starting at a very young age. Without Ruth, any of the teams he has ever played on wouldn’t have been as successful as they are today without his huge effort and willingness to the teams. George Ruth was born on February 6th, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland along with 2 parents and 8 other siblings, unfortunately 6 of them died young. George grew up playing baseball starting at a very young age in his schooling years, he was influenced by Brother Matthias who was his coach.

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Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia (biography.com). He was the youngest of five children, and was raised in relative poverty by a single mother (biography.com). He eventually became the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball. This shows how tough it was for him to succeed. Without his mother and siblings picking him up all the time, he probably would not have broken the color barrier.

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He had many achievements to showcase how good he was while playing for them. He made many records from batting and hitting homeruns beside his sidekick Babe Ruth. They both hit the most homeruns out of anybody in the league in the 1920’s. Although he also became famous for his name being associated with a disease known as ALS. This disease was the cause

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Imagine that one of the greatest baseball players ever had to retire due to a life threatening condition, later to be named after him. That was what happened to the legendary Lou Gehrig. Lou Gehrig was a renowned baseball player for the New York Yankees in the early 1920’s. The “Iron Horse” as he was known, was forced to retire at a young age due to a life threatening disease called ALS and often known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Gehrig was a slugger and was loved by fans for not only for his ability to hit the ball out of the park, but also for his social influence in baseball.

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Babe Ruth George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. George didn’t get the name “Babe” until his years in the baseball career. The boys on his team started calling him “the Babe” and soon it stuck. Babe Ruth was a well know man in his day and also in the world today. Babe was an outstanding pitcher as well as a great athlete in the outfield.

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Lou uses evidence by stating the important facts about his life. He shows the importance of his family members plus what his friends have done to help advance his baseball career. Also he includes the greatness of staying at

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I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.” Moreover, Gehrig did not look to instigate misery out of his audience. Gehrig did not need sensitivity from his circumstance. Truth be told, Lou Gehrig did not specify his illness, particularly and somewhat centered around the positive moments that he had encountered for the duration of his life. He acknowledges what is transpiring.

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Imagine how devastating it would be to be unable to play the sport you love because of an illness. For professional baseball player Lou Gehrig, that is exactly what happened. Gehrig played baseball for the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939 (“Biography”). At the end of his baseball career he was diagnosed with a disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS. ALS is a neurological disease that attacks the body’s neurons that control voluntary muscle movement (“Amyotrophic”).

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