ANNCR:
Now, the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.
A North American Major League baseball record was established inNineteen-Thirty-Nine. The man who set it played intwo-thousand-one-hundred-thirty games without missing one.
In Nineteen-Ninety-Five, the record was broken by Cal Ripken ofthe Baltimore Orioles. But there is not much chance that the man whoset the first record will be forgotten.
Today Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember tell about Lou Gehrigwhose record lasted for fifty-six years.
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VOICE ONE:
Lou Gehrig was born on June Nineteenth, Nineteen-Oh-Three. He wasa huge baby. He weighed six-and-one-third kilograms. His parents,Heinrich and Christina Gehrig, had come to America from Germany.They worked hard. But they always had trouble earning enough money.
Lou loved to play baseball games on the streets of New York City,where he grew up. Yet he did not try to play on any sports teamswhen he entered high school. He thought of himself as a ball playeronly for informal games with friends. Then one of Lou’s high-schoolteachers heard that he could hit the ball very hard. The teacherordered Lou to come to one of the school games.
VOICE TWO:
Years later, Lou said, “When I saw so many people and heard allthe noise at the game, I was so scared I went home.” The teacherthreatened to fail Lou in school if he did not attend the next game.
So Lou Gehrig went to that game. He became a valued member of thehigh school team. He also played other sports. The boy who fearednoise and people was on his way to becoming a star baseball player.
VOICE ONE:
A representative of a Major League team, the New York Giants,came to watch him. He got Lou a chance to play for the manager ofthe Giants’ team, John McGraw. McGraw thought Gehrig needed moreexperience before becoming a Major League player. It was suggestedthat Lou get that experience on a minor league team in the city ofHartford, Connecticut.
Lou played in Hartford that summer after completing high school.He earned money to help his parents. His father was often sick andwithout a job.
VOICE TWO:
The money Lou earned also helped him attend Columbia Universityin New York City. The university had offered him financial help ifhe would play baseball on the Columbia team.
But, the fact that Gehrig had accepted money for playingprofessional baseball got him into trouble. Officials of teams inColumbia’s baseball league learned that Lou had played for theprofessional team in Hartford. The other teams got him banned fromplaying for Columbia during his first year at the college.
Gehrig was permitted to play during his second year, though. Heoften hit the ball so far that people walking in the streets nearthe baseball field were in danger of being hit.
VOICE ONE:
Lou’s mother earned money as a cook and house cleaner. But shebecame very sick. The family could not make their monthly paymentsfor their home.
The New York Yankees Major League baseball organization came tothe rescue. The Yankees offered Lou three-thousand-five-hundreddollars to finish the Nineteen-Twenty-Three baseball season.
That was a great deal of money in those days. Gehrig happilyaccepted the offer. His parents were sad that he was leavingColumbia. Yet his decision ended their financial problems.
VOICE TWO:
The Yankees recognized that Gehrig was a good hitter. They wantedhim to add to the team’s hitting power provided by its star player,Babe Ruth. But Gehrig had trouble throwing and catching the ball. Sothey sent him back to the minor league team in Hartford. Whileplaying there he improved his fielding. He also had sixty-nine hitsin fifty-nine games.
VOICE ONE:
The next spring Gehrig went to spring training camp with theYankees. Again he was sent to Hartford to get more experience. Andagain, the Yankees called him back in September. He hit six hits intwelve times at the bat before that baseball season ended.
Lou Gehrig began to play first base for the Yankees regularly inearly June of Nineteen-Twenty-Five. He played well that day and forthe two weeks that followed.
Then Gehrig was hit in the head by a throw to second base. Heshould have left the game. But he refused to. He thought that if heleft, he never again would have a chance to play regularly.
VOICE TWO:
Gehrig continued to improve as a player. ByNineteen-Twenty-Seven, pitchers for opposing teams were having baddreams about Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Ruth hit sixty home runs thatyear. Gehrig hit forty-seven and won the American League’s MostValuable Player Award. Nobody was surprised when the Yankees won theWorld Series.
Gehrig, however, almost did not play. His mother had to have anoperation. He felt he should be with her. Misses Gehrig and theYankees’ manager urged him to play in the World Series. His motherrecovered.
More major threats to Gehrig’s record of continuous games playedtook place in Nineteen-Twenty-Nine. His back, legs and hands wereinjured. He was hit on the head by a throw one day as he tried toreach home plate. Another Yankee player said, “Every time he played,it hurt him.”
VOICE ONE:
Gehrig felt good in Nineteen-Thirty. He said his secret wasgetting ten hours of sleep each night and drinking a large amount ofwater.
Lou Gehrig now was becoming one of the greatest players inbaseball history. He hit three home runs in the World Series ofNineteen-Thirty-Two. His batting average was five-twenty-nine. Themanager of an opposing team, the Chicago Cubs, said of Gehrig, “Idid not think a player could be that good.”
VOICE TWO:
In Nineteen-Thirty-Three, Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell.Eleanor helped him take his place as one of baseball’s most famousplayers. The younger Lou Gehrig had stayed away from strangers whenhe could. The married Lou Gehrig was much more friendly.
As time went on, Gehrig played in game after game. He appearednot to have thought about his record number of continuous gamesplayed until a newspaper reporter talked to him about it.
An accident during a special gameplayed in Virginia almost broke the record. Gehrig was taken to ahospital after being hit in the head with a pitch. He played thenext day, though. He just wore a bigger hat so people could not seehis injury.
VOICE ONE:
Gehrig completed his two-thousandth game on May Thirty-First,Nineteen-Thirty-Eight. That was almost two times as many continuousgames as anyone ever had played before.
Gehrig finished that season with a batting average of almostthree-hundred. He scored one-hundred-fifteen runs. He batted inalmost as many runs.
But the Lou Gehrig of that year was not the Lou Gehrig of earlieryears. He walked and ran like an old man. He had trouble with easycatches and throws. Yet his manager commented, “Everybody is askingwhat is wrong with Gehrig. I wish I had more players on this clubdoing as poorly as he is doing.”
VOICE TWO:
Gehrig thought his problems were temporary. Then he fell severaltimes the next winter while ice-skating with Eleanor. He had troubleholding onto things. And he failed to hit in three games as the nextseason opened. In May Nineteen-Thirty-Nine, he finally told hismanager he could not play.
Lou Gehrig had played in two-thousand-one-hundred-thirty gameswithout missing any that his team played.
Gehrig observed his thirty-sixth birthday on June Nineteenth.That same day, doctors told him he had a deadly disease that attacksthe muscles in the body. The disease is called amyotrophic lateralsclerosis. Today, it is known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
VOICE ONE:
Gehrig did not act like a dying man, though. He refused to actfrightened or sad.
On July Fourth, Nineteen-Thirty-Nine, more than sixty-thousandpeople went to Yankee Stadium to honor one of America’s greatestbaseball players. Gehrig told the crowd he still felt he was lucky.His words echoed throughout the stadium.
(LOU GEHRIG AT YANKEE STADIUM)
“I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Imight have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to livefor. Thank you.”
VOICE TWO:
Gehrig fought his sickness. But he became weaker and weaker. Hedied on June Second, Nineteen-Forty-One. He was thirty-seven yearsold.
America mourned the loss of a great baseball hero. Those who knewhim best – family, friends, baseball players — mourned the loss ofa gentle man.
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ANNCR:
This Special English program was written by Jeri Watson andproduced by Lawan Davis. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith andSteve Ember. I’m Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week foranother PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.