Not a good sign

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - On this date in 1939 the New York Yankees crushed the Detroit Tigers 22 to 2. But the game was more noteworthy for who didn't play; Lou Gehrig. The Iron horse first baseman voluntarily decided for the good of the team that he couldn't play. It was the first time he was not in the lineup in 2,130 games - 14 seasons! Gehrig's record of most consecutive games played would stand until Cal Ripken broke it in 1995.

Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig was born in New York City in 1903. His name was Americanized to Henry Louis Gehrig. He went to Columbia University in New York on a football scholarship, but also played baseball. Gehrig left Columbia to sign with the Yankees.

As legend has it, the Yankees offered Gehrig to the Boston Red Sox early in his career for a starting pitcher as kind of re-payment for the Babe Ruth deal a few years earlier. The Red Sox didn't want Gehrig.

The reason Gehrig kept himself out of the lineup on May 2, 1939 was because Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which later became known as Lou Gehrig's disease, had attacked his body. He was too weak to play baseball. His health deteriorated shockingly fast. Henry Louis Gehrig died just two years later.

Contributing sources:
ALS Association
Lou Gehrig lifetime stats

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