Gehrig: "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth"

"So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for."

It was one month ago, 81 years back, that those words were said by perhaps one of the greatest to ever play professional baseball. Lou Gehrig was standing in the face of adversity. Adversity that would ultimately take his life. Yet, on that July 4th day in Yankee Stadium, “The Iron Horse” was not afraid. He did show fear of what was to come. Instead, he used his speech to lift up those around him, and remember all the years that he had been on a fixture in New York. For all the memories he had helped to create for baseball fans everywhere. The quote above says it all. He never gave up. Gehrig stood strong in the face of adversity.

Through his moving speech, he reminded everyone of a fact that cannot be ignored; tomorrow is not guaranteed. One day he was starting at first base for one of baseball’s most well-known ballclubs, the next, he was battling ALS. For most people, that fact is in the back of everyone’s mind. The difference is the perspective. Gehrig knew his situation was grim, yet he still knew that he had “an awful lot to live for”.

He did have a lot to live for indeed, and while he did not factor very much into the Yankees’ 106 victories during the 1939 season, he remained a stellar team captain, helping guide the rest of his team to a World Series Title over the Cincinnati Reds. In a display of his humility and team first attitude, it was Gehrig himself who took his name out of the lineup card for the first time in 2,130 games, breaking a 14-year streak. He was not playing at the level he once had, and continued to put the team ahead of keeping his streak going. It was a selfless act that was remembered by his teammates for years to come, of the character that Gehrig showed every day as a captain and leader on one of baseball’s greatest dynasties.

Also during that famous speech, he spoke these words which will forever go down in history,” Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”