July 4, 1939: The New York Yankees host Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day (usually just shortened in the retelling to "Lou Gehrig Day") at the original Yankee Stadium. Gehrig didn't want a special day for himself, so the Yankees decided to hold it between games of a holiday doubleheader, when a big crowd would be expected anyway.
For 14 years, from June 1, 1925 to April 30, 1939, Gehrig, the greatest 1st baseman the game of baseball has ever known, played every day, and superbly. But he had slown down a bit in 1938, and at the start of the 1939 season, not yet 36 years old, it was clear that he could no longer play. He retired with a .340 lifetime batting average, 493 home runs (then, 2nd all-time behind Babe Ruth), and 1,995 RBIs.
He had helped the Yankees win 7 American League Pennants and 6 World Series, won the AL's Most Valuable Player award in 1927 (despite Ruth hitting 60 home runs) and 1936, and became the 1st Yankee to win the Triple Crown in 1934 (leading the League in batting average, home runs and RBIs in the same season, something only 1 Yankee has done since, Mickey Mantle in 1956).
No one could tell him what was wrong with him, so he went to the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. They diagnosed him with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which breaks down the connections between nerves and muscles, until the patient becomes paralyzed. When it paralyzes the lungs, the patient dies. The name is usually shorted to "ALS," but it became widely known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."
So the Yankees wanted to honor him while they still could. It wasn't the first "day" the Yankees gave a player, nor even the first they gave to Lou (he'd previously gotten one in 1937). He didn't even want this one: He didn't want the Yankees to use his name and illness to artificially boost the crowd. So the ceremony was held between games of a 4th of July doubleheader, against the Washington Senators.
On one sideline, the current Yankees lined up. On the other, all the members (all then still alive) of his 1st World Series-winning team, the 1927 Yankees. (He was a member of 6 World Championship teams -- although he played in 1923 and 1939, he wasn't on the Series roster either time, so "only" 1927, '28, '32, '36, '37 and '38 are counted.) Although there would not be another gathering of former Yankees like this until 1947, the Yankees organization would come to recognize Lou Gehrig Day as their 1st Old-Timers Day. (OTD was held every year, continuously, from 1947 until 2019, but was canceled last year due to COVID restrictions. It is scheduled to be held again this year.)
Lou and the Babe had been feuding for a few years, and for the tail end of their status as teammates, they hadn't spoken off the field. Knowing that this could well be it, the Babe embraced Lou, and whatever the cause (I've heard conflicting stories), all was forgiven.
The '27 World Championship flag was raised (temporarily taking the place of the '38). George Pipgras, one of his teammates and now an AL umpire, was assigned to the games. (In the interest of fairness, today, such an ump would have been permitted to attend the game, but not call it.) Walter Johnson, then a Senator coach and perhaps the greatest pitcher who ever lived, was also on hand.
Lou was given all kinds of gifts, including one from the New York Giants, whom the Yankees had knocked off the perch of "greatest franchise in baseball" in the early 1920s, and (with Lou) had beaten in the 1936 and '37 Series.
The Mayor at the time, Fiorello LaGuardia (a Yankee Fan who once represented a part of The Bronx in Congress), spoke, and presented a proclamation from the City. His Number 4 was retired, the 1st uniform number retired in baseball, making him the only Yankee to ever wear it. (The team had begun wearing numbers in 1929.)
At first, Lou, very self-conscious of how he'd been slowed and weakened by the disease, didn't want to come forward and speak. But the fans in the crowd of 61,808 (about 5,000 short of a sellout, although there may have been complimentary tickets not counted) chanted, "We want Lou! We want Lou! We want Lou!" So he stepped to the microphone.
The newsreel cameras did not capture the entire speech. Stops and restarts can clearly be seen. Based on what's seen on film, and what was reported in newspapers that night (this was the era of evening as well as morning newspapers) and the next day, this, totally made up on the spot, is probably what he said, known due to both its eloquence and its brevity as "Baseball's Gettysburg Address":
For the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break.
Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
I have been in ballparks for 17 years, and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
When you look around, wouldn't you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today? Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?
Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent 6 years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next 9 years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?
Sure, I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift, that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies, that's something.
When you have a wonderful mother-in-law, who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter, that's something. When you have a father and a mother, who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body, it's a blessing. When you have a wife, who has been a tower of strength, and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I may have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.
It's been disputed as to how well it was known that the disease he had was fatal. Some people had no idea. But when Lou finished, the people in the stands were roaring through their tears.
A little over 2 years later, on June 2, 1941, he was dead, not quite 38 years old. The Yankees dedicated a monument to him, to be placed in center field next to the flagpole and the monument to Huggins. It, too, was set to be dedicated on the 4th of July, between games of a doubleheader. But it rained, so the dedication was done 2 days later, between games of a Sunday doubleheader, yet the plaque on the monument reads "JULY THE FOURTH 1941."
The last living player from either game in the doubleheader on Lou Gehrig Day was Buddy Lewis, who played 3rd base for the Senators in the 2nd game, and went 1-for-4. He lived until 2011. The last surviving Yankee was Tommy Henrich, who lived until 2009.
*
And, yes, there were games that day. In fact, there were 15 games played in Major League Baseball that day. Today, with 30 teams, that would be expected. Then, with just 16 teams, well, the 4th of July was a day off for most people, making them available to attend baseball games, so teams usually scheduled doubleheaders for that day -- and also for Memorial Day, Labor Day, and as many Sundays as they could. Indeed, of the 8 pairings of games that day, only 1 wasn't a doubleheader.
* In the opener at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees lost to the Senators, 3-2. That score can be seen on the scoreboard in the newsreel footage of Lou Gehrig Day. Despite a home run by George Selkirk, Monte Pearson was outpitched by Dutch Leonard.
But in the 2nd game, the Yankees broke out, putting on a performance worthy of Gehrig and Ruth, beating the Senators 11-1. Selkirk homered in this game, too. (I can't find a definitive list of Yankees who homered in both halves of a twinbill.) Selkirk and Joe DiMaggio each had 3 hits, and Babe Dahlgren, Gehrig's replacement at 1st base, had 2. Joe Gordon had 4 RBIs. Steve Sundra went the distance for the win.
* The New York Giants got swept by the Boston Bees at Braves Field in Boston. The hosts won the 1st game 3-1, and the 2nd game 10-2. (The Braves had a horrible season in 1935, and new ownership changed the team's name to the Bees for 1936. They did not change the ballpark's name, although it was nicknamed "The Bee Hive." The Bees name didn't catch on, and it was changed back to Braves in 1941.)
* In terms of results, the Brooklyn Dodgers were the most successful team in New York on this holiday. At Ebbets Field, they swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 and 8-6.
* The Boston Red Sox pounded the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Boston won the opener 17-7, and the nightcap 18-12. Think about that: The A's scored 19 runs on the day, and didn't come close to coming away with a single win. Rookie left fielder Ted Williams hit a double and a home run in the 1st game, and a single in the 2nd game, totaling 3-for-8 with 4 RBIs.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates split a doubleheader with the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Reds won the 1st game 7-4, and the Bucs won the 2nd game 4-3.
* In the day's only single game, the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Bobo Newsom pitched a 3-hit shutout. So the Tigers scored 4 runs on the day and came away with a win, while the A's scored 19 and didn't. As Joe Garagiola would later say, "Baseball is a funny game."
* Arch-rivals split a doubleheader at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In the opener, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4. In the nightcap, the Cubs won 3-2, on Gus Mancuso's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the only one of the day's 15 games to go to extra innings.
* And the Chicago White Sox swept the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Pale Hose won the 1st game 7-3, and the 2nd game 7-4.