May 16th, 1934 - AL Player of the Week: Lou Gehrig

Editor's note: there were no games in the AL on May 16th, so we bring you a special edition of "Player of the Week."

American League Player of the Week: Lou Gehrig

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

-Lou Gehrig's farewell speech

Lou Gehrig (HA1) is probably the best known of the 1930s era ball players. Although a great player in the 1920s as well, it was in the 1930s that he emerged from the shadow of The Babe and became the unquestioned star of the New York Yankees, bridging the team's first dynasty of the 1920s (American League pennants 1921-1928 except in 1924 and 1925) with its second dynsasty of the 1930s and early 1940s (pennants in 1932, 1936-1943 except 1940).

A baseball and football player at Columbia, Gehrig was signed by the Yankees in 1923 and played mainly in their farm system at Hartford. He replaced Wally Pipp as the Yankees' first baseman in 1925 and stayed there until 1939. He is, of course, best known for his streak of 2,130 consecutive games, earning him the moniker "The Iron Horse," a record that would stand until Cal Ripken broke it in 1995.

Gehrig was an All-Star every year the game was played during his career. He frequently led the league in runs, but perhaps most impressive was the five years he led the league in on-base percentage. Combined with his record of games played, Gehrig's career was marked by an impressive, low key disciplined style in contrast to Ruth's outsize lifestyle.

Gehrig, of course, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Scelrosis (ALS) at the beginning of the 1939 season, a disease that is now more commonly known simply as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He passed away in 1941. His number, 4, was the first ever retired by the Yankees.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939 in a special ceremony.