Lou Gehrig - Let's Give His Name Back to Baseball
Bellingham Bells ALS Fundraiser
I had the great pleasure and honor to speak to the fans and throw out the first ball at the Fourth of July game of the Bellingham Bells in Washington State. It as a tough act to follow: be on a baseball diamond on the 75th anniversary of the greatest baseball speech ever. Yikes! Eddie Poplawski, dear freind and owner of the ball club, asked me to do it and I did...promptly bouncing the ball a foot in front of the plate and taking a mulligan.
As I prepared for what I would say, my thoughts went to the goal of finding a solution for ALS and having the Iron Horse's name return to being synonymous with outstanding baseball and not with a deadly disease; For 2130 consecutive games and not his death two years later; For greatness and not a death sentence.
For 75 years, this disease has borne his name, I think it is time for us to focus on how to give Lou Gehrig back to baseball. Let's make this part of our battle cry - he deserves it.