Lou Gehrig

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig[2], was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, who set several Major League records and was popularly called the "The Iron Horse"[2] for his durability. His record for most career grand slam home runs (23) still stands today.[3] Gehrig was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball Writers' Association.[4] 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.[5] 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[6]), 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.[7]

His popularity with fans endures to this day, as is evidenced by his being one of the leading vote-getters on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen in 1999.