| Henry Louis Gehrig was born on June 9th 1903 in the | | | | American League with 20 triples and 16 home runs |
| Yorkville section of Manhattan in New York City. His | | | | and 112 RBIs. In 1927 Gehrig had an amazing season |
| parents were German immigrants, his father was an | | | | hitting.373 average with 47 home runs and a record |
| on and off sheet metal worker and his mother was a | | | | 175 RBIs. The Yankees' first baseman's career began |
| maid. Gehrig played baseball for his high school team | | | | in 1923 and ended on April 30th 1939. His career |
| Commerce High School. It was with this team that he | | | | achievements with the New York Yankees included |
| got his first taste of national publicity when they played | | | | playing in 7 All-Star games, 6 time World Series |
| Chicago's Lane Tech High School on June 26th, 1920 | | | | champion, 2 time MVP, Yankee's team captain from |
| at Cub Park (Wrigley Field). At the age of seventeen | | | | 1935 to 1939. Lou Gehrig was unanimously inducted in |
| young Lou Gehrig hit a grand slam home run out of the | | | | the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. |
| park, an unheard of feat for someone that age. After | | | | Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with amyothropic lateral |
| graduating high school in 1921 Lou attended Columbia | | | | sclerosis (ALS) at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, |
| University for 2 years but never graduated. | | | | Minnesota on June 1939 on his 36th birthday. There |
| Lou Gehrig began his professional baseball career with | | | | was no cure to this debilitating disease that included |
| the New York Yankees on June 15, 1923 as a pitch | | | | paralysis, difficulty swallowing and speaking. The |
| hitter. For the first 2 seasons he primarily was a pitch | | | | doctors at the clinic gave him less than three years to |
| hitter and did not see much action on the field. In the | | | | live. |
| 1926 season Lou Gehrig hit.313 average and lead the | | | | |