Tag: Lou Gehrig

Sep 20: Ripken ends streak

SEPTEMBER 20, 1998 | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Cal Ripken didn’t play for the Baltimore Orioles on this date in 1998, the first time he was not in the lineup in over 16 years. It marked the end of his 2,632 consecutive game streak, a record Ripken held since breaking Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 game streak on September 5, 1995.

So, Cal Ripken is best known for the streak, but how good a ballplayer was he?

Pretty good.

  • 431 career home runs (the most by a shortstop – 345)
  • 3,184 hits (14th all-time)
  • 1,695 runs batted in (averaged 81 per year over 21 years)
  • 1,647 runs scored
  • .276 lifetime batting average
  • Started 17 all-star games at short
  • Two-time Most Valuable Player

Cal Ripken was exceptional and durable, while playing one of the most demanding positions on the field for most of his career — shortstop. It’s unlikely his streak will ever be broken. The closest any active player has come is Miguel Tajada who played in 1,152 straight games, but that streak ended in June 2007. 

Then again, they said Gehrig’s streak would never be broken.

Contributing sources:
Career stats leaders (Baseball Reference)
Ripken’s last game (Baseball-Almanac)

SEP 5: Ripken Ties Gehrig

SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND • Drama followed Cal Ripken the summer of ’95. On this date that year he tied Lou Gehrig‘s 2,130 consecutive games played streak. He received a 5 minute standing ovation from his hometown Camden Yards crowd when the game became official in the bottom of the 5th inning. If that wasn’t dramatic enough, Ripken homered the following inning.

The 35-year old shortstop, who’s been playing every single game on the Baltimore Orioles schedule for 14 years, would go on to play almost three more full seasons before ending the streak September 20, 1998 having played in 2,632 consecutive games. The only active player (as of this writing) among the top 15 in consecutive games played is Miguel Tejada, another former Oriole. Tejada was not quite half-way there when his streak ended at 1,152 games in a row. He only had about seven more years to go without missing a game.

Think Ripken’s streak will ever be broken?

Contributing sources:
Consecutive games played 
September 5, 1995 box score/play-by-play  http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL199509050.shtml
New York Times, Cal Ripken  

July 4th in baseball history – The luckiest man

JULY 4, 1939 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A tired, frail, shadow of his former self told 61,808 people in Yankee stadium on the Fourth of July in 1939, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” New York Yankee first-baseman Lou Gehrig was very sick.

He stopped playing baseball. He was getting weaker by the day and would be gone in less than two years.

The suddenness of Gehrig’s decline was shocking. He was known as the “Iron Horse.” He played every single game for 14 years. When Babe Ruth set the single season home run record in 1927 with 60 home runs, Gehrig hit 47 – more than anyone, other than Ruth, had ever hit up to that time.

Gehrig had 29 home runs, 114 runs batted in and 115 runs scored in his last full season – 1938. It was not his best year, but still quite good. The only stat that appeared to show decline was batting average. He hit .295. He hadn’t hit under .300 in twelve seasons and hit .351 in 1937, .354 the year before that.

Clearly, Gehrig had lost a step, he was 35 years old, so slowing down a bit was not unexpected. But Gehrig’s decline was clear in spring training 1939. His power had faded. He was hitting just .143 with no extra base hits when he took himself out of the lineup after eight games of the regular season. He never got back in.

A few weeks after asking out of the lineup Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with a rare, crippling, fatal disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The sickness would become known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Contributing sources:
Lou Gehrig web site
Baseball-Almanac (Gehrig)

June 26 in baseball history – Kid named Gehrig offers glimpse into the future

JUNE 26, 1920 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – A 17-year old high school kid wowed fans and major league scouts on this date in 1920 by hitting a towering grand slam home run out of Cubs Park (now known as Wrigley Field). The blast sealed a victory for New York’s Commerce High School against Chicago’s Lane Tech 12 to 6. The Commerce HS kid’s name – Lou Gehrig. He offered a glimpse into the future.

Soon Gehrig would be terrorizing opposing American League teams while playing for the New York Yankees.

Gehrig was a force. He held the record for the most career grand slam home runs (23) for more than 50 years. He had a lifetime .340 average. He hit 493 home runs and drove in 1,995 hitting after Babe Ruth in the Yankee lineup.

Gehrig would hold the record for the most consecutive games played (2,130 – 14 years worth) until broken by Cal Ripken in 1995.

Sadly, the player known as the “Iron Horse” would succumb to the debilitating and deadly sickness that carries his name – Lou Gehrig’s disease. He played his last game on April 30, 1939. He was 35 years old.

But on this date in 1920, Gehrig was a wide-eyed high school kid offering a glimpse into the future.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
“Luckiest Man: The life and death of Lou Gehrig,” by Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post, April 3, 2005
Lou Gehrig stats
Career grand slams

JUNE 1 Gehrig begins journey

JUNE 1, 1925 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – On this date in 1925 twenty-one year old Lou Gehrig pinched hit for New York Yankee shortstop Paul Wanninger. It was the start of something special. The Iron Horse begins his journey. Gehrig would play in every single game for the next 14 years. He would surpass Everett Scott‘s consecutive game record of 1,307, and set his own of 2,130 consecutive games played.

The oft-repeated story is that Gehrig’s streak began when New York Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp asked for a day off because of a headache. Another story is Yankee manager Miller Huggins didn’t start Pipp and several other regulars that day to shake up a slumping lineup. Either story may be true. Gehrig did start at first in place of Pipp on June 2nd – the second day of his streak.

Interestingly, the guy Gehrig pinch hit for on June 1st to start his streak, Paul Wanninger, several years earlier had replaced former consecutive game record holder Everett Scott in the Yankee lineup.

Gehrig’s consecutive game streak ended sadly in 1939. He was forced out of the lineup by a rare disease that sapped the Iron Horse of his strength. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is now more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. His seemingly unbreakable record would stand for 56 years. It was broken by Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles in 1995. But it was on this date in 1925 that the Iron Horse began his journey.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
June 1, 1925
ESPN on Gehrig
Wally Pipp