June 2- Lou Gehrig gets his First Start in his 2,130 Consecutive Game Streak

1925- On this day in Sports History, Lou Gehrig got his first Major League start in his historic consecutive game streak at first base for the New York Yankees. His streak started the day before when he pinch hit in a game. But it was on this day that he got his first start in the streak. Nicknamed the “Iron Horse”, Gehrig never missed a game until he took himself out of the lineup in May of 1939. Many people thought his streak would never be broken until Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 consecutive games which ended in 1960.

Gehrig’s first start on this day in 1925 came in a game against the Washington Senators. Wally Pipp was scheduled to start as he was the starting first baseman, but he asked out of the lineup because of a headache. That is when 21 year old Lou Gehrig got the first start of his career. Gehrig had a good game as he had three hits and a run scored. The Yankees won the game over the Senators 8-5. After Pipp asked to not play because of his head ache, Gehrig got his chance and he never gave his spot up. On June 5th, Gehrig hit his first home run of his career. He finished his playing days after hitting 493 home runs, 2,721 hits, 1,995 RBI’s, and six World Series Titles with the Yankees. In World Series games alone, Gehrig had a .360 batting average while hitting 10 home runs and 35 RBI’s.

Finally, in early May of 1939, Lou Gehrig was out of the lineup after playing 2,130 straight games. Gehrig asked out of the line up after determining that he wasn’t helping his team by playing. He had always said that he would stop playing as soon as he was no longer an asset out on the field. A large part of his decline in play was probably because of the disease he would soon be diagnosed with. Later in 1939, Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS, or what became known as the Lou Gherig disease. He would unfortunately pass away on this date in 1941. Gehrig got his first MLB start in his streak on June 2, 1925 and passed away 16 years later on June 2, 1941. Still, Gehrig’s famous speech of him saying “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth” lives on.

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Sources:

Muder, Craig. “A Headache Becomes History.” Baseball Hall of Fame, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Smith, Jack. “Yankees Legend Lou Gehrig Ends His Streak at 2,130 Games in 1939.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2018