When I remember LOU GEHRIG ...

[Appling]

When I remember Lou Gehrig, what do I think of first?

Is it one of his top hitting seasons, or perhaps his career TOTALS?
Is it his consecutive game streak (once thought to be "UNBREAKABLE"?
Is it his more famous teammates -- first Ruth, then DiMaggio?
Is it his chief rival, Jimmie Foxx?
Is it his disease and his "Farewell Speech?
Or is it his movie: "Pride of the Yankees"?

[DTF955]

Before Ripken broke it I would have said the consecutive games streak.

Now, I would say the "luckiest man..." speech. With his best seasons a very close 2nd - I forget who it was, maybe Bill James, who made a comment about allt hose huge numbers in a row.

[Appling]

Before Ripken broke it I would have said the consecutive games streak.

For many of us, the Ripken challange to Gehrig's streak put the 2130 games record at the fore-front again -- much like the McGwire assault on the Maris 61 number did in 1998, or Barry Bonds' current attack on Ruth's career 714 homeruns.

[hellborn]

I think of the humility of the man and his incredible dignity in an impossible situation.
I also think of how sad it was that he and Ruth had to go without speaking for so long...and how the photos of their "reunion" show me that Lou still couldn't quite forgive the Babe.

[DoubleX]

I think of the humility of the man and his incredible dignity in an impossible situation.
I also think of how sad it was that he and Ruth had to go without speaking for so long...and how the photos of their "reunion" show me that Lou still couldn't quite forgive the Babe.

I couldn't agree with you more. I wasn't alive to see Gehrig play, but from all I have gathered about him, he seems like a terrific person, who carried himself with, as you said, humility and dignity, and just worked hard and did his thing. He is certainly on my short list of role models.

[KCGHOST]

The first thing is the streak, then what a great player he was.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

when I think of Lou Gehrig, I think...Ballplayer

[DTF955]

For many of us, the Ripken challange to Gehrig's streak put the 2130 games record at the fore-front again -- much like the McGwire assault on the Maris 61 number did in 1998, or Barry Bonds' current attack on Ruth's career 714 homeruns.

True, but it's now been 10 years since he broke it.

I guess to me, since he is no longer the owner of "the Streak," other things come to mind first. Indeed, his entire offensive output comes to mind, before he was so well known for that I didn't really think right away about his incredible and consistent his numbers were. Now I do.

It's easy to see why some feel that Ripken chasing the streak still has that effect 10 years later, though.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I'm pretty much on the same page as HWR, I just think "GAMER"

I also think of how sad it was that he and Ruth had to go without speaking for so long....

It really wasn't "so long", just from 1934. It was such a silly thing that they could have worked through it, but then another incident happened which made it worse. Here's a pic of them in '33.

[hellborn]

I couldn't agree with you more. I wasn't alive to see Gehrig play, but from all I have gathered about him, he seems like a terrific person, who carried himself with, as you said, humility and dignity, and just worked hard and did his thing. He is certainly on my short list of role models.

Isn't it great when Bosox and Yanks fans can agree on something?
The contrast between Ruth and Gehrig is fascinating...I think the Babe would be somebody you'd want for a friend to party with, but you'd want Lou to be your Dad or big brother.
I can't think of a figure from Bosox history who is comparable to Gehrig as a person...maybe Speaker, but they had to go and trade him to Cleveland. I guess that even Tris has a few slight blemishes otherwise that put him a little below Lou. As for baseball players in general, I can only think of Musial offhand as a superstar with a reputation approaching Gehrig's for just being a good person.
Will we see the like of Lou again?

[hellborn]

I'm pretty much on the same page as HWR, I just think "GAMER"

It really wasn't "so long", just from 1934. It was such a silly thing that they could have worked through it, but then another incident happened which made it worse. Here's a pic of them in '33.

The really sad thing for me is that you can find so many photos of Babe and Lou just hanging together before the split...it was clear to me that they weren't just posed, the men were really friends and enjoyed each other. Probably not at Babe's favorite places for evening entertainment, but otherwise.

[Myankee4life]

When I think of Gehrig I think of his tragic story. A man who could of ended up with 600HR's and be the all-time leader in RUNS and RBI's. A man who faced his ailment head-on. That his doctors lied to make him believe he had a 50-50 chance. Gehrig believed this through the very end. A man who disliked the spotlight but is now remembered most for what he did in it. I remember the speech the most. Also his incredible cocnsistency.....from 1927-1937 he could of been named the MVP all those year without an uproar from fans or sportswriters. As you can tell Gehrig is my favorite ballplayer...to sum it up......he was a HELL of a ballplayer and an even better man.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

The really sad thing for me is that you can find so many photos of Babe and Lou just hanging together before the split...it was clear to me that they weren't just posed, the men were really friends and enjoyed each other. Probably not at Babe's favorite places for evening entertainment, but otherwise.

lol, no probably not. It was certainly a complicated relationship. No surprise when Babe is involved. Their relationship always relied on Lou playing second fiddle to Ruth, but it was something Lou didn't mind at all. It was his idol afterall.

They weren't best of friends, but they were very close. They went to college football games together, hunted and fished together, like you said, really enjoyed eachother's company. There were a few little things that they both didn't like about eachother though. Lou didn't appreciate Ruth's relationship with Huggins, and later his relationship with McCarthy. Makes sense, Lou was always a "by the book" company man. Babe didn't respect that. Babe didn't like how Lou was so cheap, and so conservative. Just little things.

The first time things were no longer as they were was after '29 when Ruth wanted Gehrig to hold out with him. Knowing that if those two stood ground together, that management would have no choice but to give in. Gehrig was scared of this idea, and didn't go along. Bothered Babe a lot. They were still friends after that, but it was the first small hold in the relationship boat if you will. Babe brought Gehrig along with him to barnstorm, making him more money than he'd made all season. Still though, Gehrig couldn't break out of his conservative shell. This is a guy that cut his own hair to save money.

[Barnstormer]

Thanks for the info Sultan. Just a question - they were both sons of German immigrants, I know Gehrig spoke German, was Ruth also fluent? I think I have heard stories of them speaking German in the dugout...

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Thanks for the info Sultan. Just a question - they were both sons of German immigrants, I know Gehrig spoke German, was Ruth also fluent? I think I have heard stories of them speaking German in the dugout...

Babe's family did indeed speak German just as well as English. Around the Ruth household, German was actually the first language.

One story I've heard is that Fred Lieb was speaking with Gehrig one time. They were exchanging a few sentences in German. Ruth was nearby and joined in the converstation like it was nothing.