July 4 – Luckiest Man Lou Gehrig has number retired

This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

On July 4, 1939, the New York Yankees retire the uniform #4 of future Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig in emotional ceremonies at Yankee Stadium. For over 40 minutes, current and former Yankee greats, including Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, parade onto the field to honor the “Iron Horse.” Other former Yankee greats, such as pitcher Waite Hoyt, second baseman Tony Lazzeri, and outfielder Bob Meusel, also attend. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy presents Gehrig with a special silver trophy. Gehrig, in one of the most memorable speeches in baseball history, tells the 61,808 in attendance at the Stadium, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Gehrig, who is stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, will die from the muscular disease in 1941.

Future Hall of Famers collect 3,000 Strikeouts!

In 1980 Nolan Ryan pitching for the Houston Astros strikes out Cesar Geronimo and becomes only the 4th pitcher to achieve the mark. The Astros's lost the game 8-1. Ryan would go on to fan over 5,000 batters during his career.

Four Years later, Knuckballer Phil Niekro joined Ryan becoming the 5th pitcher to achieve the mark. He fans Larry Parrish of the Texas Rangers. Niekro was pitching for the New York

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