Remembering The Iron Horse
As a first baseman for the New York Yankees baseball team, Lou Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive games from 1925 to 1939, setting a major league record and had a career batting average of .340. He once hit four home runs in a game, and to this day still holds many other major league records. On July 4, 1939, he stood before more than 60,000 fans at Yankee Stadium and confirmed what everyone seemed to know, that the "Pride of the Yankees" had been [dealt a terrible blow.] diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (now often called Lou Gehrig's disease), a rare disease that causes spinal paralysis, Gehrig gave one of the most poignant and meaningful speeches in sports history. This speech was much more than a speech given by a regular old ball player who was calling it quits. This was a speech that came in a time of need and that turned the heads of millions of baseball fans. It redefined and set the tone of what ball players really are; everyday human beings with hearts, bodies, and souls, like the rest of us. Ball players may have been looked at as if they were indestructible and emotionless, but this speech Gehrig gave illustrated clearly that baseball is just a game and that there are m
Another important aspect of this speech was its kairos and what was going on at that time in the nation. In the few years prior to Gehrig’s farewell speech, America had seen itself have its biggest stock market crash ever and the nation was in an enormous depression. When people were down and frustrated and lot of them had nowhere to turn, but to turn to baseball to help them keep their minds off their problems. Gehrig’s speech came just as the great depression was coming to an end and the people and economy were getting better. I think this speech by Gehrig can be looked at as a turning point in history because he is telling the people that no matter what we have to go through in life, if we stick together and fight through it, everything will be all right. Gehrig’s final paragraph is one of his strongest in getting his point across. He uses the strategy of repetition saying, “that’s something” to really show his appreciation to everyone (even his teams biggest rival) that had made his life the best he could ever imagine. “When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in the white coats [Teammates and coaches.] remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something.” He shows here just how humble of a man he really is; thanking his team’s biggest rival, the groundskeepers, and even his mother-in-law explains what a unique and great man he was. The public's reaction to Gehrig's sudden retirement gave rise to one of the most inspiring and dramatic episodes in sport. A man of only thirty-seven years of age and a sports icon for years, he explained to the nation that he was dying from a fatal disease. His manager, Joe McCarthy, pushed Gehrig, a humble man who didn’t even want to speak that 4th of July, to say a few words to the crowd. The final line of Gehrig’s speech wraps up the message I believe he is trying to get across fully. “So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break
Some topics in this essay:
Babe Ruth,
York Giants,
Joe McCarthy,
Lou Gehrig's,
Yankee Stadium,
Lou Gehrig,
Riverdale NY,
Pride Yankees,
,
†that’s,
York Yankees,
gehrig’s speech,
fans yankee stadium,
teammates coaches,
biggest rival,
luckiest earth”,
doesn’t forever,
life doesn’t,
fans yankee,
major league,
life doesn’t forever,
doesn’t forever enjoy,
telling audience,
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Approximate Word count = 1480
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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