CAREERS CUT SHORT BY BRIAN HALL THE WILD WORLD OF sports SportsZone An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdopublishing com
CHAPTER 1 THE IRON HORSE The history of sports is marked by many athletes who died or suffered devastating injuries or illnesses that shortened their careers One of the most famous was New York Yankees Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig Gehrig stood in front of a microphone at Yankee Stadium on July 4 1939 and declared himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth Those were surprising words from somebody forced to retire because of a disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS Gehrig was a shining example of strength in baseball for both his 493 career home runs and his streak of playing in 2,130 straight games The man who was known as the Iron Horse for his durability won the Triple Crown in 1934 by leading the American League AL with 49 home runs 166 runs batted in and a 363 batting average He also helped the Yankees become baseball’s first dynasty winning six World Series between 1927 and 1938 The classic left-handed swing of Lou Gehrig produced 493 career home runs
