He called himself the “luckiest man”. Seventy-five years ago today, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig stepped away from baseball. Â One of the best speeches by one of the greatest players, whose life was cut way too short. Â Gehrig was forced to retire after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, now known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Despite his diagnosis, Gehrig said, “I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”  In honor of his speech, Major League Baseball had all thirty starting first baseman recite the speech.  It is a very touching tribute to such a special man.  To honor Gehrig’s memory, you can make a donation in his honor here. Hopefully one day “there will be a cure named after Lou Gehrig instead of a disease”. Â
Great idea. Although it’s nicely done, the one minor issue, I don’t think he said ‘look at these grand men, who wouldn’t consider it the highlight of their career’. From what I can research, he just said what is in the actual video “When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine looking men…”.