Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig, American Legend, "The Pride of the Yankees,"
a player of incomparable slugging feats, a man of quiet modesty,
holds the major league record with Ruth and Foxx with 13 years
of driving in over 100 runs. Gehrig's 13 years being
consecutive. He led the league in home runs three times
and in RBI's five different times. He also scored over 100
runs in 13 consecutive seasons.
First baseman, Lou Gehrig followed Babe Ruth in the batting
order and was his principal rival as a slugger. As some
indication of the way these two players dominated the slugging
statistics during the late 1920's, consider these facts: in
1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs and Gehrig belted 47, the man
who finished third hit only 18. The combined home run
total of Ruth and Gehrig was almost twice as great as that
of any other 1927 team.
In 1930, Gehrig lined 220 hits, batted .379, 42 doubles,
17 triples, 41 HR's, that's 100 extra base hits. He scored
143 runs and had 174 RBI's. His slugging average of .721 still
ranks in the top ten for one season's play.
Lou Gehrig batting statistics rank him in the top five of
all-time hitters. In eight different years he got 200 hits
or more in a season. Gehrig career batting average was
.340. He struck out on average less than 50 times a year.
He batted over .370 in three different seasons, his high mark
was .379 in 1930.
In 1934, Lou Gehrig batted .363, hit 49 homers, with 165
RBI's, walked 109 times and only struck out 31 times. This
quote is from an old newspaper clipping in 1935: "Gehrig
is not a pronounced pull hitter; as he hits "screamers"
in all directions".
Keep in mind, Gehrig only played 13 full seasons. He
hit 20 triples in 1926, he slugged ten or more triples in
eight different years. Gehrig was considered a good
base runner, he stole home 15 times along with 102 lifetime
stolen bases. His career fielding average was a high
.991 and he was considered one of the better fielding first
baseman of his era. In World Series play, Gehrig was
devastating, with a .361 batting mark. He slugged 10
home runs, drove in 35 runs in 34 World Series Games.
On May 1, 1939, Gehrig removed himself from the starting
lineup after playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Baffled
and frustrated by his body's inability to perform simple tasks,
he check into Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. His illness
was diagnosed as amyotropic lateral sclerosis, a disease which
destroys a person's muscles - later named Lou Gehrig's Disease.
On July 4, 1939, Yankee Stadium was overflowed to honor this
great person and ballplayer. Two years later, Gehrig
died at the age of 37.
Lou Gehrig career: played 2,164 games (2,130 in a row); batted
8,001 times, hit 534 D, 163 T, 493 HR's, scored an incredible
1888 runs with 1995 RBI's, he walked over 1500 times and only
fanned 790 times. Gehrig's lifetime batting average
.340 including 2721 hits.
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