As sports fans, we've become accustomed to a franchise retiring a player's number when that athlete has a profound impact on the organization and their city as a whole. Visit any stadium or arena around this country and you'll seen these tributes proudly displayed in the form of monuments, shrines or banners hanging from the rafters.It wasn't always like this.
Lou Gehrig, the incomparable Yankees slugger who set the benchmark for durability while turning in a Hall of Fame career, was the first to have his number permanently retired by his team.
Today, the Yankees and the rest of Major League Baseball commemorated the 70th anniversary of Gehrig's unforgettable farewell speech at the he was as responsible for building as his teammate Babe Ruth.
The transcript of his brief 277-word speech is being read during the seventh-inning stretch of the 15 games on the schedule today in an effort to raise awareness and support for those fighting ALS, also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."
All players are also wearing patches honoring the great first baseman.
Standing before an admiring crowd in 1939, knowing his fate, a brave Gehrig spoke of the great opportunities that had been presented to him. To this day, that one immortal line about being the luckiest man on the face of the Earth still invokes goosebumps.
Gehrig's courage honored around MLB (MLB)
The transcript of his brief 277-word speech is being read during the seventh-inning stretch of the 15 games on the schedule today in an effort to raise awareness and support for those fighting ALS, also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."
All players are also wearing patches honoring the great first baseman.
Standing before an admiring crowd in 1939, knowing his fate, a brave Gehrig spoke of the great opportunities that had been presented to him. To this day, that one immortal line about being the luckiest man on the face of the Earth still invokes goosebumps.
Gehrig's courage honored around MLB (MLB)
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