Willow Glen Resident

Letters & Opinions

Movie reminds us why we celebrate the 4th

By Moryt Milo

Barbecues, fireworks and parades are all part of the Fourth of July, as is our American pastime, baseball. That's why it's only fitting on this day to remember one of the game's greats, New York Yankee Lou Gehrig.

It was 67 years ago, on July 4, 1939, that Gehrig walked up to homeplate for the last time and addressed the baseball world in what would become a signature moment in sport history. At age 36, he was leaving the game because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), what would later become known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's a disease that paralyzes the body by destroying the nervous system, cruelly leaving the mind intact.

One of my all-time favorite movies is Pride of the Yankees, staring Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. I remember the scene where he's beaned in the head by a baseball and his vision is blurry. He chalks it up to the game, but moviegoers know it's a foreboding sign. The film was made in 1942, just a year after Gehrig's death.

As a kid, I was struck by the movie for a number of reasons. Gehrig seemed like a real good guy and being struck down by a mysterious illness felt all wrong. I remember thinking, how could that happen to a baseball player, especially someone that amazing?

He was nicknamed the "Iron Horse" because of his durability. Gehrig had the longest consecutive playing streak, 2,130 games, until Baltimore Orioles shortstop Carl Ripken Jr. broke it in September 1995 with 2,131 games. It was a record most believed would stand the test of time. Gehrig's other stats were equally amazing. His batting average was over .300 every season, after his breakout year in 1925 through his last full one in 1938. He led the American League with RBIs five times, including 184 RBIs in 1931. That's incredible when you consider he batted after the "Babe," who often cleaned off the bases before Gehrig came to bat. Gehrig was fourth in the lineup, Ruth was third.

But more than his baseball accomplishments, Gehrig embodied all the reasons we celebrate on the Fourth of July. His incredible work ethic, his genuine affection for family and his appreciation for being given an opportunity to do what he loved. These are attributes that should still define an American. Yet they appear to be fading from our communal psyche.

Gehrig told fans on that July 4th he considered himself the "luckiest man on the face of the earth."

Maybe it's time to watch Pride of the Yankees all over again.

Moryt Milo is the editor of the Willow Glen Resident. She can be reached at 408.200.1051 or via email at mmilo@community-newspapers.com.