MLB to honor Lou Gehrig's legacy, raise ALS awareness

July 4 marks 75th anniversary of famous speech

Friday marks the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's retirement from baseball.

Gehrig gave his famous speech, where he called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth," on July 4, 1939 at old Yankee Stadium.

Recommended Videos



The Hall-of-Famer and Yankees legend played 2,130 games in a row until he was physically unable to play because of the neuromuscular disorder called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Major League Baseball players will honor Gehrig Friday by wearing special commemorative patches on their uniforms.

Teams will honor his legacy and raise awareness about ALS at special pregame ceremonies and other events throughout the month of July.

Anyone who would like to donate to the effort to cure ALS can click on this link. 

You can also click here for a link to his famous farewell speech, which was given in front of 62,000 fans.


About the Author

RJ Marquez is the traffic anchor/reporter for KSAT’s Good Morning San Antonio. He also fills in as a news anchor and has covered stories from breaking news and Fiesta to Spurs championships and high school sports. RJ started at KSAT in 2010. He is proud to serve our viewers and be a part of the culture and community that makes San Antonio great.

Recommended Videos