References

Photos and information found in Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig

Henry Louis Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903 to Wilhelm Heinrich Gehrig and Anna Christina Fack , poor German immigrants who moved to the United States with barely any money in their pockets and no friends or relatives to meet them. Lou’s parents met in 1901 and gave birth to their first child on May 26, 1902. Their daughter Anna Christina would unfortunately die as an infant. At the time, everything was changing. Houses began using electric light bulbs, Teddy Roosevelt, the youngest President yet, took office, and a new sport called baseball began sneaking up on the ever-popular horse racing. Baseball assimilated nicely into New York’s alleys and sandlots.

On June 19, 1903, Willhelm and Anna Christina Gehrig gave birth to their first son, Henry Louis-or “Louie” to Anna. He was his parents only child to survive into adulthood, and survive he would. He would soon become one of the nation’s most beloved athletes and a leader in research for ALS. His father was absent most of the time, drinking beer and playing pinochle and so it was his mother whom he formed the strongest relationship with. He would later say that, “If it had not been for my mother, well, I’d be a good natured, strong-armed and strong-backed boy, pushing a truck around New York, loading and unloading boxes that less powerful truck drivers could not handle.”

At the beginning of the twentieth century, baseball was quite different from today. Games usually began in the evening that way people could get a full days work in. Uniforms were flannel and worn without a number or a name. Foul balls were thrown back onto the field by fans. At the age of seven, Gehrig witnessed the first City Series in which the Highlanders-a team that would later become the Yankees- and the Giants played each other, the Manhattan Bridge was completed, and the seventh annual World Series was being played between the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs. Caught up in the hype, Gehrig wished to be a professional baseball player yet he was slow on the bases and slow to learn. He would later say that, “Some ballplayers have natural born ability,” “I wasn’t one of them.”Above is a photo of Lou after his grammar school graduation from P.S. 132. At the time, most families expected their children to graduate and begin working full time but Lou’s mother encouraged him to go to high school.

Gehrig went to the High School of Commerce at 155 West 65^th Street and did not play any sports during his first year. He kept to himself and would later tell the press that he did not join any teams due to both his mother and lack of courage. By his junior year he played soccer, football, and baseball-his weakest sport of all. Due to his clumsiness his coach placed him at first base and he practiced. As a hitter he proved to be one of the best if not the best. His homeruns spoke for himself and began to build a reputation. During his high school years, Willhelm fell ill and could not work and so Christina found a job as a cook and housekeeper for a fraternity at Columbia University.

In November 1920 Gehrig’s football team at Commerce played DeWitt Clinton High School at Columbia University. Robert W. Watt, Columbia’s manager of athletics found interest in Gehrig and went to talk to him and his father after the game. Little did he know Gehrig’s mother had cleaned Watt’s fraternity house years earlier when he attended Columbia. Lou soon found himself registering at the University in February of 1921 and practicing with the baseball team by April. During his first exhibition game he hit two homeruns and that spring scouts for the New York Giants began their persuasion for him to quit college and join the big leagues. Not sure if he wanted to cut his education short, the Giants asked him to at least tryout in front of their manager, John McGraw. During the tryout Gehrig let a ball roll through his legs at first base and McGraw decided he had seen enough. Not giving up, Lou began playing illegally for a summer team called the Hartford Senators. Fully aware that he could not play semiprofessional ball and receive pay while attending college, he changed his name to Lew Lewis. His coach at Columbia would eventually find out and force him to quit immediately.

In April of 1923, scout Paul Krichell, a retired catcher, saw Gehrig play at Columbia and announced that he had found the next Babe Ruth. He told the college player to show up at Yankee stadium the very next day. On the 30^th of that same month Gehrig signed his first contact. His family would never be poor again.