Last month, Major League Baseball announced that it would honor Lou Gehrig, the famous New York Yankees first baseman, on June 2. The date has a double meaning in Gehrig s life: In 1925, it marked his first game starting at first base; 16 years later, on June 2, 1941, Gehrig would pass away from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fast-moving neurodegenerative disease for which there remains no cure.
Lou Gehrig Day will be a special one for two groups of people: baseball fans who still marvel at the Iron Horse s then-records for grand slams and consecutive games played, and those whose lives have been touched by ALS, who know Lou Gehrig more for the disease that bears his name than the number of baseballs he sent into bleachers.
Elise Italiano Ureneck
By Elise Italiano Ureneck • Catholic News Service • Posted April 23, 2021
Last month, Major League Baseball announced that it would honor Lou Gehrig, the famous New York Yankees first baseman, on June 2. The date has a double meaning in Gehrig’s life: In 1925, it marked his first game starting at first base; 16 years later, on June 2, 1941, Gehrig would pass away from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fast-moving neurodegenerative disease for which there remains no cure.
Lou Gehrig Day will be a special one for two groups of people: baseball fans who still marvel at the Iron Horse’s then-records for grand slams and consecutive games played, and those whose lives have been touched by ALS, who know Lou Gehrig more for the disease that bears his name than the number of baseballs he sent into bleachers.