….Gehrig’s consecutive game streak of 2,130 games (a record that stood until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995) did not come easily. He played well every day despite a broken thumb, a broken toe and back spasms.
Other statistics on the website highlight his remarkable career:
- Gehrig’s 184 RBIs in 1931 remains the highest single season total in American League history.
- He batted .361 in 34 World Series games with 10 homers, eight doubles and 35 RBIs.
- He also holds the record for career grand slams at 23.
- He hit 73 three-run homers and 166 two-run shots, giving him the highest average of RBI per homer of any player with more than 300 home runs.
When Gehrig’s illness forced him to retire, the sportswriter Paul Gallico suggested to the New York Yankees management that there should be a “Recognition Day” to honor Gehrig.
On July 4, 1939, 62,000 fans watched in Yankee Stadium as Gehrig delivered a short speech during which he described himself as “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
When Gehrig spoke that day, there were multiple microphones, but only a small section of the speech was recorded.
The text and audio from the speech are on the American Rhetoric website.
First, he thanked the fans:
“I have been to ballparks for seventeen years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.”
He thanked his fellow teammates:
“Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure I’m lucky.”
He thanked the NY Yankee’s management team, and he thanked the members of the rival team, the NY Giants:
“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.”
He thanked the grounds keepers:
“When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in the white coats remember you with trophies, that’s something.”
He thanked his parents:
“When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it’s a blessing.”
And, he thanked his wife:
“When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that’s the finest I know.”
In the brief text of only 286 words, Gehrig demonstrated both incredible grace and excellent speech-craft.
On June 2, 1941, Lou Gehrig succumbed to ALS.
The speech he left is a great literary text to share with students in middle or high school. The readibility of this speech is about a grade 7, and there are several rhetorical devices worth noting. For example, Gehrig’s rhetorical strategies in the speech included the anaphora, which is the repetition of a first word or phrase in successive phrases (“when”) and epistrophe, a stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses (“it’s a blessing…”).
Giving students speeches to analyze is one way for teachers in all subject areas to increase background knowledge about history and American culture. Teaching this farewell address meets the Common Core Literacy Standards English Language Arts and for History, Social Studies, Science and the Technical Subject Areas, that require students to determine word meanings, appreciate the nuances of words, and steadily expand their range of words and phrases.
On July 4th, we celebrate all things American. What could be more American than baseball…even if it is a farewell to baseball address? Lou Gehrig’s speech is one of the great American inspirational speeches…even if he was a NY Yankee.
Oh, and one more thing I can say that I like about the Yankees?
I like my husband.. he grew up as a Yankee fan.
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