This week in baseball history saw the end of the careers of two of the greatest men to play the game.
December 7th, 1939:
On this date, Lou “Biscuit Pants” Gehrig was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame via a special election.
“Biscuit Pants” was just one of Gehrig’s many nicknames, another nickname of his was “Iron Horse”. He was given this nickname because of his hard-nosed play and never say die attitude. He cemented his legendary nickname when, at the end of his career, he had his hand x-rayed. It was found that his hand had 17 breaks or fractures that had healed without medical treatment. He battled through these injuries and showed that he was truly made of iron.
The “Iron Horse” began his playing career in 1923 but did not experience consistent playing time until the 1925 season when he replaced aging first baseman, Wally Pip. Once he got his chance, he did not let it go. He set the Major League record for consecutive games played at 2,130. He played every single game for the Yankees from 1926 to 1938. His record would stand until 1995 when Cal Ripken Jr. broke it and went on to play 2,632 straight games for the Orioles.
Photo Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame REUTERS
Gehrig batted a lifetime .340 with a single season high of .379 which came in the 1930 season. He amassed a total of 493 home runs in his illustrious 16 year career. He accumulated an astounding 1,995 RBIs in his career, despite batting after Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, two of the greatest base clearing batters of all time. His 185 RBIs in 1931 stand as an American League Record. His record is only six runs short of the Major League record of 191 which was set the previous year in the National League by 30-year-old Hank Wilson of the Chicago Cubs.
In the 1938 season, he batted below .300 for the first in his career. Many people were worried that Gehrig had lost his touch but Lou refused to give up. In the spring of 1939, he tried to keep his streak alive but it was physically impossible. On May 2, his streak came to an end.
What was originally diagnosed as a gall bladder issue turned into something much worse.
Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. ALS is a degenerative disease that destroys the neurons that control voluntary muscle functions. It is incredibly fast acting and has no cure. The disease is named after the Yankee slugger who contracted it. After his streak came to an end in the spring of 1939, so were his playing days. Gehrig would never play baseball again.
July 4th, 1939 was Lou Gehrig Appreciation day at Yankee stadium. 62,000 people filled the Old Yankee Stadium and listened to Lou Gehrig reminisce on his time in the league and the Yankees. In his speech, Gehrig thanked all of his past teammates and managers, but his speech is most known for the line in which he called himself, “the luckiest man on the face of the earth”. His speech has been called the greatest speech in the history of baseball.
Later that year, because of his failing health, the Baseball Writers Association suspended their normal five year waiting period and held a special election to put Mr. Gehrig into the Hall of Fame.
The “Iron Horse” proved to be flesh and bone when he passed away on July 2nd, 1941.
His famous speech featured a line which we should all live by, “I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for”. Even when his body was destroying itself and death was imminent, Gehrig would not allow this disease to hold him back and we should all follow this mantra; focus on the good things in your life rather than the negatives and make the best out of what you have.
December 11th, 1951:
On this day, the baseball world bid farewell to the career of “Joltin’” Joe DiMaggio.
Joe DiMaggio began his baseball career in 1932. In in that year, he played his first season in the minor leagues for the San Francisco Seals. His time with the Seals was spent as the best player on the team by far. In his first season, he batted .340 with 169 RBIs and 28 home runs with an astounding 61 game hit streak. Joe got his break when he was sold to the Yankees in November of 1934. He did not make his way straight to the Bronx however. He would spend one more season with the Seals.
When he did make it into the Major League, he wasted no time in showing his skill. In his rookie season, he batted .323 with 29 home runs and a league leading 15 triples. In just his second year, he finished second in the MVP ballot and eventually was able to secure that award in 1939. In his MVP season, DiMaggio batted a league leading .381 with 31 home runs and 126 RBIs.
Credit: NBC Sports
The 1941 season would be the next time he captured the American League MVP Award. On top of winning the award, DiMaggio accomplished something no other player has ever done, and most likely never will. On May 15, he began a streak unlike another in the history of sports. In every game he played, until July 17, DiMaggio would record a hit. In his second MVP season, Joe recorded a .357 average with 125 RBIs and 30 home runs.
In his first seven years in the league, DiMaggio batted an amazing .339 with 219 home runs and 930 RBIs. From 1943 until 1945 DiMaggio took a leave of absence from the professional game of baseball to serve his country. When he enlisted in the armed forces, his ability on the diamond was utilized to the fullest. He played baseball for the military to entertain and keep the morale of the soldiers up. In his time with the military, he played almost a full major league schedule.
When he returned to Major League Baseball, DiMaggio took some time to get back into full season shape but by his second year back, he was in the full swing of things. In 1947, Joe DiMaggio batted .315 with 20 homeruns and 97 runs scored en route to his third and final MVP award. Arguably, the 1948 MVP Award should have gone to DiMaggio. That year, DiMaggio had an even better year in every statistical category but fell short of the elusive back to back MVP awards when he lost to Lou Bourdreau, who only led DiMaggio in walks and on base percentage, runs scored, and hits.
Joe DiMaggio would be an All Star in each of his 13 seasons in the league and in ten of those thirteen seasons, he was a part of the World Series. DiMaggio and the Yankees won nine of the ten World Series they were involved in. from his rookie year of 1936 to 1939, DiMaggio and the Yankees appeared in four straight Fall Classics.
When it was obvious that his body was unable to put up with the strain of the long season, Joe DiMaggio called it quits. He turned down a $100,000 contract, the richest contract of the time. In his farewell speech, at the Yankees office in Squibb Tower, DiMaggio stated, “I feel I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my ball club, my manager, my teammates, and my fans the sort of baseball their loyalty to me deserves”. This is a testament to the character of Mr. DiMaggio was. He loved baseball for what it is and respected the game to the fullest. He recognized that his continued part in baseball would hurt his team and his fellow Yankees. The example that he set should be remembered by all of us in everything what we do.