During Lou Gehrig's pro baseball career, spent entirely with the New York Yankees, from 1923 to 1939, he racked up 493 home runs and 1,995 RBIs and the team won seven pennants and six World Series. Nicknamed the Iron Horse for his strength and durability, he set a record for consecutive games played—2,130—that stood for more than half a century. Gehrig, who along with his teammate Babe Ruth was considered one of the sport's great sluggers, was forced to quit the game in 1939 due to an incurable neurological illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which today is commonly known in the U.S. as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Find out more about the legendary first baseman.
He was the son of German immigrants.
Born Henry Louis Gehrig in New York City on June 19, 1903, the future sports icon was the son of German immigrants. His father and mother each arrived in America as young adults then met and married in New York City. Gehrig, the only one of his parents' four offspring to survive past infancy, spent his early childhood in a heavily German neighborhood in Manhattan called Yorkville and spoke German with his family. Money was tight in the household: Gehrig's father found periodic employment as a metal worker, while his mother brought in money as a cook and cleaning lady. Gehrig's mother was a dominant force in his life, and even after becoming a star Yankee he lived with his parents until shortly before his marriage at age 30.
