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“Iron Horse” Rides into Baseball History at Hunt Auction
“Iron Horse” Rides into Baseball History at Hunt Auction
Just walking up to the microphone was a struggle for the baseball legend. Even so, Lou Gehrig dressed in his Yankee uniform slowly stepped up. He tipped his head shyly, ran his right hand through his hair and wiped back the tears.
July 4, 1939 was Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium. Gehrig’s admirers were waiting. Dead silence filled the stadium. Even the men in the press box stopped typing.
Gehrig had written his feelings down but when it was time to speak the words simply flowed from his heart.
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth,” Gehrig said. “I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”
The sorrowful expression on his face never changed. Gehrig went on to thank everyone from his fans and teammates to his coaches and family.
Truth was this was Gehrig’s last hurrah on the field. Everyone knew it.
The first game between the Yankees and the Senators had just ended. The whole team was there including Joe DiMaggio. Even Babe Ruth showed up (the two had little use for each other) along with the mayor of New York, and Gehrig’s friends and family.
Over 60,000 fans in the stands didn’t know the baseball legend was dying. Gehrig himself hadn’t been told the disease ALS was going to take his life.
But, he knew.
He couldn’t hit. He couldn’t field. He was losing weight. His hair was turning gray.
He was stumbling and dropping things.
At age 36, Gehrig had been diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease of the central nervous system. A disease that now bears his name.
During his 14 years as a first baseman for the Yankees, Gehrig never missed a single game. Now he was facing the loss of his life.
After Gehrig finished speaking Ruth walked up to him, threw his arms around him and gave Gehrig a big hug. The marching band played “I Love You Truly” and the fans roared, “We love you, Lou.”
It was one of those larger-than-life moments in baseball history that people couldn’t forget if they tried. Despite his personal misfortune, Gehrig had been part of one of the greatest baseball dynasties in history. His staying power won him the nickname “Iron Horse.”
His light was fading but the legend could never be snuffed out.
“Somehow I felt that at the Stadium yesterday they were honoring not a great baseball player but truly great sportsman who could take his triumphs with sincere modesty and could face tragedy with a smile,” said Richards Vidmer in The Herald Tribune.
“He has stood for something finer than merely a great baseball player-he stood for everything that makes sports important in the American scene.”
In December 1939 Gehrig was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Yankees retired his uniform. It was the first time a major-league baseball team honored a player that way.
Gehrig died on June 2, 1941.
One of the most treasured pieces of Lou Gehrig memorabilia, his game-worn jersey, went on the block on Nov. 10 at Hunt Auctions Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory Auction in Louisville, Ky .
The 1938, pin-stripped, New York Yankees home flannel jersey sold for $402,500. Its origin is equally interesting.
John Ryan of Passaic, N.J., was involved in forming an amateur baseball team for a church league in 1938. Ryan went to the Yankees after the 1938 World Series and purchased the complete roster of used player jerseys for his church team at $9.00 each.
Gehrig’s shirt was saved for repair patches in case the other jerseys were damaged. The team folded after one season and the Gehrig jersey remains intact for history.
Rosemary McKittrick covers the art, antiques and collectibles market weekly in her column.
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[…] Rosemary McKittrick wrote a fantastic post today on “â??Iron Horseâ?? Rides into Baseball History at Hunt Auction”Here’s ONLY a quick extract“Iron Horse” Rides into Baseball History at Hunt Auction Just walking up to the microphone was a struggle for the baseball legend. Even so, Lou Gehrig dressed in his Yankee uniform slowly stepped up. He tipped his head shyly, … […]
March 15th, 2008 at 12:58 am