He called himself the “luckiest man”. Seventy-five years ago today, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig stepped away from baseball. One of the best speeches by one of the greatest players, whose life was cut way too short. Gehrig was forced to retire after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, now known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Despite his diagnosis, Gehrig said, “I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.” In honor of his speech, Major League Baseball had all thirty starting first baseman recite the speech. It is a very touching tribute to such a special man. To honor Gehrig’s memory, you can make a donation in his honor here. Hopefully one day “there will be a cure named after Lou Gehrig instead of a disease”.
Great idea. Although it’s nicely done, the one minor issue, I don’t think he said ‘look at these grand men, who wouldn’t consider it the highlight of their career’. From what I can research, he just said what is in the actual video “When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine looking men…”.