On the TunneySide of Sports October 11, 2021 #869 Up next… Role Models
The 2021 Major League Baseball regular season began on April 1 and ended on Oct. 3. This is the final season of the Cleveland Indians competing with that 106-year-old nickname, a name they have used since 1915. Going into the 2022 season they will be known as the Cleveland Guardians. It’s a new era for Cleveland baseball and we wish them well.
Recently I went back through my TunneySide archives and came across what is probably my favorite baseball memory in “A Classic Baseball Story” where I unabashedly share my lifelong loyalty to the New York Yankees. As a kid, I would listen on the radio to the Yankee broadcasts each night before going to bed.
This column was so important to me then, and now, that I am going to beg your indulgence as I share it again. There are some men and sports figures who are just bigger than life and the role model they provided us then, and now, should never be forgotten. For me, one of those men is the inestimable Lou Gehrig, known as “The Iron Horse”
My admiration for Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, and that team still stands tall in my mind. Gehrig, the Yankee’s first baseman played 17 years – his entire career – for New York. Why would he want to play elsewhere? He was nicknamed “The Iron Horse” for his strength and durability. However, what separated Gehrig may be his retirement speech as death was approaching, due to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) – now called “Lou Gehrig Disease.”
It was 1937, Gehrig was in Chicago where the Yankees were to play the White Sox. A friend asked Lou to pay a visit to a 10-year boy, named Tim, who was in the hospital stricken with polio. Tim was refusing to try therapy. Gehrig was Tim’s hero and Tim’s parents hoped a visit would encourage Tim to go to therapy. Gehrig made that visit and said to Tim, “I want you to get well. Go to therapy and learn to walk again.” Tim said, “Lou, if you will knock a homer for me today, I will go to therapy and learn to walk again.” Lou promised.
Although Gehrig had a career 493 home runs, this request came during the last two years of his career and home runs were not as easy to come by as they are in today’s game. The pressure was mounting as Gehrig rode to the ballpark, yet he felt a deep sense of obligation along with his apprehension. Well, Lou didn’t knock one home run that day. He knocked two!
A short two years later when ALS was taking the life out of the old iron horse the Yankees held a Lou Gehrig Day on July 4, 1939. Yankee Stadium was packed with every dignitary possible. As Lou stepped to the microphone, Tim, now 12, walked out of the Yankees dugout, dropped his crutches, and, with leg braces, walked toward Lou at home plate and hugged him.
That’s what Gehrig meant when he said those immortal words. “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
Who will you be a role model to?
—————
Jim’s books include many messages about rules and regulations (remember he was a referee). His bobblehead on your desk or shelf will be a treasure in your office or home.
Shop here.
To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.
