The LuLac Edition #2688, July 4th, 2014

GEHRIG’S SPEECH @ 75

Lou Gehrig saying goodbye to the fans at Yankee Stadium. (Photo: Sports History.com)

The view from of the event captured by a New York Times photographer. (Photo: New York Times.com). 

It was a speech that was given four years before my parents got married. It was the year my mother had graduated from high school. The clouds of war in Europe were hovering due to the aggression of Germany and its leader. Conventional wisdom said that FDR would never dare try and run for a third term in 1940 after the Court packing incident where the second term President wanted to increase the number of justices on the high court.
Towns across America large and small were celebrating the Fourth of July. But the news and cheer of the day also had the farewell speech of Yankee First baseman Lou Gehrig. Gehrig, who knew that he had an incurable disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis referred to it as a bad break in his remarks. At first he was overcome by emotion but gave the comment that has endured through the years.
Gehrig was the son of immigrants who also had a degree from Columbia. While Ruth was the showman of the Yankees, one got the impression you could have a more in-depth conversation with The Iron Horse. Here’s the speech that has lived on 75 years later with commentary by the late John Chancellor.