July 4, 1939. More widely celebrated as Independence Day in America. But at Yankee Stadium, approximately 62,000* people were celebrating Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, Gehrig's official retirement gala.
The doctors of Mayo Clinic had released his ALS diagnosis to the public on June 19, 1939. Since then there was an public push to honor Gehrig. The idea of an appreciation day reportedly began with Bill Hirsch, a friend of sports columnist Bill Corum. Corum spoke of the idea in his column, and other sportswriters picked up on the idea, promoting it far in wide in their respective periodicals. Someone(s) suggested the appreciation day be held during the All-Star Game, but when Yankees owner Ed Barrow got a hold of the idea, he quickly shot down the All-Star Game suggestion. He didn't want Gehrig to share the spotlight with any other all-star. Believing the idea was valid and the best thing to do, he wanted the appreciation day to be soon, and that day turned out to be July 4, when the Yankees were playing a doubleheader against the Washington Senators.
The public was ecstatic, and former Yankees, namely the '27 team, from every nook of the country vowed to be there for Gehrig on his big day. Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day ended up being Gehrig's retirement party.
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