Lou Gehrig's Farewell: The Luckiest Man on Earth
Lou Gehrig had played 2,130 consecutive games over fourteen years when he pulled himself from the lineup on May 2, 1939, because he could no longer run the bases. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal degenerative disease with no treatment. On July 4, before 61,808 fans at Yankee Stadium, Gehrig stepped to the microphone and called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." He was 36 years old and had two years to live. The speech transformed him from a celebrated athlete into a global symbol of grace under terminal diagnosis, and ALS has been called "Lou Gehrig's disease" ever since.
July 4, 1939
87 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 4
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