On 4 July 1939 Lou Gehrig gave his “luckiest man on the face of the earth” remarks at a ceremony honoring him for his career and accomplishments as a Yankee. He was only 36 years old when he was first diagnosed with ALS aka “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” and then died two years later. Here is an account of the events leading up to his retirement from baseball:
As for the speech that Gehrig made at his retirement ceremony that day, it has been dubbed “baseball’s Gettysburg Address.” I found this article discussing just why it is such a great speech (click here). Also check out this video on it:
Can’t resist one little smart ass comment here and it is something I recall a comedian once saying about Lou and his speech: “Hey Lou, you got an incurable disease that is named after you and you only got two years to live. You ain’t that lucky dude!”
Only one song to be played here correctamundo? It was written by Greg Lake when he was just 12 years old. Years later when his band ELP needed one more song for their first album, Greg offered up this one which went on to become a classic hit song. Now, that’s what can be called luck! (Another snippy little note here – I always thought that this tune dragged on just a little too much. The only reason I even listened to it all the way thru was to wait for Keith Emerson’s moog solo to kick in near the end (3:30 mark.) Otherwise, this tune sounds to me like something a 12 year old would write.)