Luckiest Man On the Face of the Earth

who knows if gehrig could even hug back the babe at that point? ???

 

Brilliant speech.

 

He could, Shockey, and he did.

Hell, he could still walk out there and deliver a speech. ALS hadn't yet degenerated his muscles THAT much -- in fact, he had still been playing up to May 2, and he delivered the speech on July 4. His motor skills were a little shakier than they had been, but they weren't deteriorating that fast. He couldn't play at a major league level anymore -- but he wasn't at the point where he couldn't hug The Babe. (Which, IIRC, he did "hug back." They had been estranged since 1934, but they reconciled again around that time in 1939 and remained so until Gehrig's death in '41.)

Eig's book is fascinating in the detail of Gehrig's medical records over the last two years of his life, which the author obtained from the Mayo Clinic. You can truly get a picture for how devastating ALS can be.

 

Hasn't there been speculation that, given the progression of ALS as it is now understood, he played the last 3-5 years of his Hall of Fame career despite the disease steadily robbing him of his abilities?

 

I'd be interested in reading more of that speculation, pall. That makes Gehrig's vastly underrated career even more mind-blowing if it's true.

However, the disease often works very quickly. I know Gehrig never went to the Mayo Clinic to get it checked out until 1938 (when he first started to struggle on the field), so it's possible that it affected him in 1936 or '37, too, before the disease was detected. But I believe that to be unlikely.

It's very possible that his motor skills didn't start to degenerate until mid-1938, deteriorated enough to where he had to retire after three weeks in '39, put him in a wheelchair by '40 and killed him by '41. The medical records seem to back that up. Hard to believe, with how quickly such an incredible physical specimen like Gehrig was felled by ALS, that it would have started anytime before then.

But holy shit, with the numbers he put up in 1937 (.351/.473/.643, 37 HR, 159 RBI) ... if ALS had already been weakening his body then? My god.

 

Swear to god I thought this was going to be another Obama thread.

 

The book I had read (which I just found again) was Richard Tofel's "A Legend in the Making." In it, he quoted Bill Dickey as saying, "If you look real close, you'll notice Lou never hugged Babe back. He just never fully forgave him."

Now, Dickey was one of Gehrig's best friends, so he probably was a little biased. Still, it's an interesting issue.

A couple of other interesting things about Gehrig's speech that Tofel wrote about was that Lou very nearly didn't give the speech. He was very emotional when receiving the gifts, and Joe McCarthy had to really encourage him to speak. McCarthy also asked a couple of players to hover near Gehrig in case he collapsed.

Gehrig also planned to make a joke about a botched cereal commercial he had done on live radio a few years earlier, but either forgot, or decided not to do it when he was speaking.

 

Mr. Tofel should stick with finances. He's far better at his day job.

But that "botched" cereal commercial is a funny story. It was for Huskies -- Gehrig flubbed and called it "Wheaties" live on the air. Thus, the creation of the Breakfast of Champions.

Read Eig's book instead. Simply outstanding.

 

Lou Gehrig. Died of Lou Gehrig's Disease. How did he not see that one coming? "Look pal, here's a disease with your name all over it." [/denis_leary]

 

I always loved the line about the cry that supposedly went up from the fans when Wilhelm was injured, "Hert is hoit!"

(Sorry. Back to topic.)

 

I know it was 1939 and all, but it's such a shame that a full recording of the real speech has not survived. I keep holding out hope that there's a reel out there in somebody's attic.

 

More than likely, another of the infinite lines Leary has lifted.