The Luckiest Man on the Face of This Earth

1934 Lou Gehrig Card

4 min readSep 5, 2018

There is no doubt that Lou Gehrig will be remembered forever in both baseball history and in American history. Gehrig made a name for himself as a Yankee even though many would say he started his career playing in Babe Ruth’s shadow. While he is one of the greatest to ever play the game, his story is mostly known for being one of the saddest in baseball history.

Gehrig’s career tragically came to an end in 1939 when he was diagnosed with ALS, a debilitating disease that still has no cure. Today, the disease is commonly called, Lou Gehrig’s disease. In one of the most famous speeches from Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium two days after Gehrig was diagnosed, he spoke in front on 61,808 fans:

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans … I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”

The first time I heard his story and this speech he gave, I didn’t understand what he meant. How could he consider himself be one of the luckiest men on earth after being struck with this crippling disease? It saddened me that a man with so much talent had his life, and career, cut short in one of the worst ways possible.

I thought about what could have been with Gehrigs career. There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest baseball players ever, but it was hard for me to see that when all I could think about was what milestones he could have reached had his career ended on his own terms. His streak of consecutive games played might have been longer, he could have racked up more RBIs and home runs, reached more All - Star games, and who knows what else.

Over the years, I have come to see that Gehrig was right. We shouldn’t look back on his career with sadness and what ifs. We should look back on it and celebrate it. Instead of looking at his achievements thinking about what could have happened if he stayed in the league for longer, we should be looking back and appreciating all the great feats that he did manage to achieve.

Lou Gehrig played 2,130 games over 14 years without missing a single one. He achieved a lifetime batting average of .340 with 493 home runs, and 1,995 RBIs. He was also a 7x All - Star, 6x World Series champion, 5x AL RBI leader, 3x AL home run leader, and 2x AL MVP. He also he won the batting Triple Crown and hit four home runs in one game.

One of the gems in my baseball card collection is a Lou Gehrig baseball card. The card is from 1934, the year he won the triple crown. That year, he led the league in batting average (.363), RBI (166), and home runs (49). While this card reminds that Gehrig achieved this rare and incredible feat, it is also significant for other reasons.

To me, Gehrig’s life and career is the perfect example of turning an absolutely horrible story into one that inspires so many. Instead of looking back on his life and his career t with sadness, we should remember it and celebrate it.