Lou Gehrig was the first baseball player to have his uniform number retired. Lou Gehrig was the first first-baseman in the first All-Star Game ever played. Lou Gehrig was the first ballplayer to appear in 2, consecutive games. Lou Gehrig was the first player to hit twenty-plus grand slams across his career -- we could EASILY write fifty more Gehrig firsts, easily, we won't, but we do hope you enjoy the following brief Lou Gehrig biography by Baseball Almanac:.
At no other time in baseball history, or any other sports history, has an athlete gone on to achieve the immortality that Lou Gehrig did while playing in the shadow of others. But such was the case for "The Iron Horse", who put up awesome numbers while leading the Yankees to championships but had the misfortune to first be a teammate of Babe Ruth and later Joe DiMaggio.
Gehrig joined the New York Yankees in and two years later in the role of backup first baseman saw his first real action when Wally Pipp asked out of the lineup one day due to illness. Gehrig seized the opportunity and began a consecutive games played streak that earned him his nickname and set the standard for sports durability that wasn't broken until 56 years later. The following season Gehrig blossomed into a great hitter with awesome power and together with Ruth terrorized pitchers for the next seven seasons.
In , Gehrig drove in over runs for the first time, and the next season he went toe to toe with the " Bambino " for the homerun title before tailing off and finishing with 47 homers to Ruth's then record of From through , Gehrig averaged 38 home runs, RBIs and runs scored.
In he set a still-standing A. In he became the first turn of the century player to wallop four home runs in a game. With Ruth gone, Gehrig continued to lead the Yankee offense, but in , DiMaggio joined the Yankees and stole some of Lou's thunder with a splendid rookie season. Together they lead the Yanks back to the World Series and the first of what was to be four consecutive World Championships. All rights reserved. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.
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The Negro Leagues are Major Leagues. We have dramatically expanded our coverage of the Negro Leagues and historical Black major league players. Read our Announcement. WAR R OPS 1. Batting Career I had been playing on the college ball team and I had had eight offers to join professional clubs.
So when there was no money coming in there was nothing for me to do but sign up. Gehrig returned to campus in the late s as a guest lecturer at a Teachers College physical-education course. He also served on an Alumni Federation recruitment committee. Even toward the end of his life he remained an avid fan of the Lions and followed the football team's progress on the radio.
Lou Gehrig is elected to the Hall of Fame. Lou Gehrig gains election to the Hall of Fame. Jimmie Foxx hits two round trippers moves him ahead of Lou Gehrig on the all-time list with a total of Numerous baseball dignitaries attend the funeral of Lou Gehrig in the Bronx. A center field monument dedicated to Lou Gehrig is unveiled by the Yankees. The memorial is a tribute by his teammates of their beloved captain who died last month of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS.
Happy New Year to a couple of Babes that swap places. Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians homers in four consecutive at-bats against the Baltimore Orioles. Mantle moves ahead of Lou Gehrig into 6th place on the homer list. Bobby Murcer ties record with 4 homeruns in a double header.
Steve Garvey becomes 5th player to play consecutive games. Joe Carter hits 3 homeruns for second time in season. Cal Ripken, Jr.
Ripken plays in his 2,th consecutive game. A monument in center field at Yankee Stadium is dedicated to Mickey Mantle, who died of liver cancer last year. The commemorative structure, the first to be erected by the team in 47 years, joins three other monuments in the Bronx ballpark that honor the legacies of Miller Huggins, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig.
Joining Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth, Albert Belle becomes only the fourth player to drive in runs and hit 30 homers for seven consecutive seasons. The White Sox left fielder, who played in every game for the White Sox this season, will continue the streak next year with the Orioles.
With a third-inning double against Milwaukee, Rockies first baseman Todd Helton becomes the first player in major league history to have consecutive extra-base hits seasons. Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Chuck Klein also had two extra-base hits seasons, but did not accomplish the feat in successive years. Derek Jeter becomes the eighth player in Yankee history to collect 2, career hits.
Derek Jeter becomes the all-time hits leader at Yankee Stadium, which will be demolished at the end of the season. Quiet and reserved, Lou Gehrig rarely had the spotlight all to himself during his 14 full seasons with the New York Yankees.
Gehrig remained in the background his first 10 years while the far more colorful and gregarious Babe Ruth consistently grabbed the headlines in the New York newspapers. He then spent his final few seasons taking a backseat to the more charismatic Joe DiMaggio.
But, when all was said and done, Lou Gehrig was one of the very greatest players in baseball history, and the man who is generally considered to be the premier first baseman in the history of the game. He made another brief appearance for the team the following year before joining New York for good in Little did anyone know at the time that Gehrig would go on to play in another 2, consecutive games before missing another contest. Although the Yankees lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, the year-old first baseman displayed the sort of clutch hitting that eventually became his trademark.
Gehrig batted. In fact, Gehrig must receive at least part of the credit for Babe reporting to spring training in outstanding physical condition. Ruth took note of the outstanding power and overall hitting prowess Gehrig demonstrated at the plate the previous season, and he felt challenged for the first time in his career by another member of his own team.
Gehrig was eight years younger than the year-old Ruth, who many baseball people considered to be past his prime. Not wishing to take a back-seat to anyone — least of all one of his own teammates — the Babe worked harder than ever before during the off-season, and he reported to camp in better shape than at any other time since he first became a member of the team in Even though Ruth grabbed most of the headlines by setting a new home run mark, it was Gehrig who captured league MVP honors for his exceptional performance.
The Yankee first baseman finished second in the league in home runs 47 , runs scored , batting average.
He placed third in on-base percentage. Gehrig punctuated his great season by batting. The Yankees repeated as American League champions in , and Gehrig had another outstanding year, leading the league with runs batted in, 47 doubles, and a.
He also finished third in the league with a. He then destroyed the St. Although New York failed to repeat as American League champions in any of the next three seasons, Gehrig continued to perform at an extremely high level. He hit a total of home runs, twice surpassing the homer mark.
The first baseman also averaged runs batted in and runs scored over that span, while compiling a career-best. Gehrig led the American League with RBIs in , then followed that up by topping the circuit with 46 home runs, runs scored, and an all-time league record RBIs in He also consistently finished among the league leaders in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, hits, and triples.
In fact, Gehrig led the league in total bases in both and , topping the mark for the second and third times in his career those two seasons.
Quiet, reserved, and dignified, Gehrig stood in stark contrast to the loud, boisterous, and colorful Bambino. Writers sought out the Babe for quotes, glorifying his every accomplishment with flowery rhetoric while simultaneously overlooking his many vices, which included over-indulging in food, liquor, and women. It gives me lots of room to spread myself.
Although the year-old Babe had another outstanding season, Gehrig posted better numbers in most offensive categories. Gehrig finished slightly behind Ruth with 34 homers, a.
On June 3rd of that year, Gehrig became the only player in Yankees history to hit four home runs in one game. Still, Gehrig was clearly the star of the Series, batting. Even though New York failed to win the American League pennant for the second straight year, The Iron Horse had one of his finest seasons, leading the league with 49 home runs, runs batted in, a.
Gehrig also placed among the leaders with runs scored and hits. After another outstanding season in , Gehrig was forced to share the spotlight again with another great player when Joe DiMaggio joined the Yankees in The extraordinary all-around talents of the brilliant rookie centerfielder drew much of the media attention away from Gehrig.
Yet, it was the first baseman who ended up capturing league MVP honors for the second time in his career by leading his team to the first of four consecutive world championships. Gehrig topped the circuit with 49 home runs and runs scored, and he also placed among the league leaders with runs batted in and a. Gehrig had another exceptional campaign in , hitting 37 home runs, driving in runs, scoring others, and batting.
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