NEW YORK - In recognition of Major League Baseball's inaugural Lou Gehrig Day, Columbia Athletics will be selling its own limited-edition t-shirt with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
The t-shirt is a replica of the Columbia Baseball jersey worn by the Lions during the 1923 season, Gehrig's only year playing baseball on Morningside Heights.
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Lou Gehrig Day is an annual, Major League-wide event to honor the legacy of the Hall of Fame first baseman and raise awareness and funds to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease that ended Gehrig's life.
Henry Louis Gehrig, a native New Yorker, attended Columbia College from 1921 to 1923, and played both football and baseball as an undergraduate student. Stories of Gehrig's prodigious home runs for the Lions suggest that he hit the ball nearly 500 feet from home plate then situated at the southeast corner of South Field to the current Pulitzer building - home of Columbia Journalism School. Gehrig also pitched for the Lions, striking out a team record 17 batters in one game in spring 1923.
For more information and digital artifacts on Lou Gehrig's time at Columbia, visit a new resource page from the Columbia University Libraries
After his sophomore year, Gehrig signed with the New York Yankees where he enjoyed a Hall of Fame 14-year career. First known as "Columbia Lou" when he made the big leagues, Gehrig was eventually called "The Iron Horse," for his career-defining streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, until the illness bearing his name prevented him from continuing. Gehrig held the consecutive games played record until 1995, when Cal Ripken, Jr. surpassed the mark. After his diagnosis of ALS, Gehrig immediately retired from baseball with 493 home runs, 1,995 RBIs, 1,888 runs scored and 23 grand slams, which remains an MLB record. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a special election and his number four was retired by the Yankees, the first professional athlete ever to receive that honor.
On Lou Gehrig Day, all players, managers and coaches will wear a special uniform patch, with red "4-ALS" (the logo bearing Gehrig's retired uniform number with the Yankees) wristbands available to be worn in-game.
The June 2 date is significant in Gehrig's story, both as the day he became the Yankees' regular first baseman in 1925 (replacing former Yankees starting first baseman Wally Pipp) and, sadly, as the day he passed away in 1941, approximately two years after he was diagnosed with ALS.
Often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease, ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Those affected lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and, eventually, breathe. ALS can affect anyone, anywhere, at any time, and, while scientists are making some strides in understanding the disease and there are several potential treatments in late-stage clinical trials, there is no cure.
As part of today's celebration, Major League Baseball is speaking with representatives from the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center to share insight into the groundbreaking research taking place in Washington Heights.
Under the leadership and direction of Neil Shneider, MD, PhD, Columbia University's Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center has become a premier clinical care and research center for patients and families with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The center provides comprehensive care, education, and support for patients and families living with ALS. The center also has an integrated research program that includes clinicians and scientists from many disciplines across Columbia who are leading the effort to develop new treatments, and ultimately a cure.
If you are interested in joining us in the fight against ALS and other motor neuron diseases, please click here.
