81 years ago, the legend Lou Gehrig passed away after a courageous battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Just last season, Major League Baseball marked June 2nd as the inaugural Lou Gehrig Day. The day is to recognized the Iron Horse and his accomplishments as well as bring awareness to the terrible disease.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a bit of a mouthful for some so nowadays people can be heard using the acronym ALS or even calling it the Lou Gehrig disease. Gehrig was an all-time great baseball player who saw his career cut short because of the disease but never let it prevent him from going out on his own terms.
After finding out he had ALS, Gehrig addressed Yankee Stadium one final time. Despite everything, he said, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
“So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for,” added Gehrig.
Despite his career being cut short, Gehrig did just about everything and accomplished just about everything a player could accomplish. He’s a 2-time MVP, 7-time All Star, and 6-time World Series champion. On top of that, he won the Triple crown, is a batting champ, a Hall of Famer, and he even played in 2,130 consecutive games before retiring. That record stood for 56 years before Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken passed him.
Not impressed? Which you should be. But also, there is this…
Gehrig is not the only famous person or even professional athlete at that to face the disease. A more recent professional player to contract the disease is former NFL player and New Orleans Saints legend Steve Gleason. Gleason has been a face of the season and has spend much of the last 12 years battling the terrible disease.
Gleason was on hand with his family to celebrate Lou Gehrig Day at Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game on Thursday.
Gleason story was one he made sure he told too. During the Weekly Watchlist reviews for the Sideline Icons Podcast, we reviewed and chatted about the film “Gleason” which shares his battle through home videos. It’s a must watch film for all and especially those who follow sports.
To learn more about ALS and the ways you can help out, visit their website ALS.org.
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