LOU GEHRIG Biography - Famous Sports men and women

 
 

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LOU GEHRIG

Name: Lou Gehrig                                                                         
Born: 19 June 1903                                                                       
Died: June 2, 1941 (aged 37)                                                             
                                                                                         
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich         
Gehrig, was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, who set several         
Major League records and was popularly called the "The Iron Horse" for his               
durability. His record for most career grand slam home runs (23) still stands           
today. Gehrig was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball           
Writers' Association. A native of New York City, he played for the New York             
Yankees until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),           
now commonly referred to in the United States as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Over a 15-season 
span between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games. The streak             
ended when Gehrig became disabled with the fatal neuromuscular disease that             
claimed his life two years later. His streak, long believed to be one of                 
baseball's few unbreakable records, stood for 56 years until finally broken by           
Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6, 1995. Ripken would go         
on to play in a total of 2,632 consecutive games before sitting out September 20,       
1998, to set the current record.                                                         
                                                                                         
Gehrig accumulated 1,995 RBIs in seventeen seasons with a lifetime batting               
average of .340, a lifetime on-base percentage of .447, and a lifetime slugging         
percentage of .632. A seven-time All-Star (the first All-Star game was not until         
1933; he did not play in the 1939 game, retiring a week before it was held — at       
Yankee Stadium), he won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in             
1927 and 1936 and was a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League         
in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.                                                 
                                                                                         
His popularity with fans endures to this day, as is evidenced by him being one           
of the leading vote-getters on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team,               
chosen in 1999.