30 MLB first basemen recite Lou Gehrig’s ‘Luckiest Man’ retirement speech
Jul 3, 2014, 11:36 PM | Updated: Jul 4, 2014, 5:11 pm
Lou Gehrig’s famed retirement speech is often imitated but never duplicated, but several modern MLB first basemen have done their best to pay homage to the late New York Yankees legend, as seen in a new video released by the league.
Friday marks the 75th anniversary of the former Yankees star’s “Luckiest Man” speech, and the new tribute video shows 30 successors at Gehrig’s primary position reciting pieces of his illustrious oratory. Look for Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt near the end of the clip.
Gehrig’s original speech can be seen intermittently throughout the video, which ends with current Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who himself is retiring after this season.
Yahoo! Sports says the video debuted Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, and it will be shown at all other MLB games taking place on Friday. Additionally, MLB will donate a total of $300,000 to four organizations that fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is now known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Gehrig was known as an “Iron Man” for most of his career up until being diagnosed with ALS. His run of 2,130 straight games wouldn’t be broken until Cal Ripken Jr. surpassed the mark in 1995. The Yankees first baseman entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1939, his uniform No. 4 retired by New York that same year. Gehrig died less than two years after delivering his retirement speech.
