Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig (http://www.harfordvista.com/)

“Today I consider myself the luckiest man on earth.” This quote by Lou Gehrig is probably one of the most famous quotes ever. He probably would never have been able to make that speech had he never worked hard and sadly, contracted the horrible illness. Lou always made people’s lives better and helped them improve on things in their lives and for that he is a hero. For example, when he was ill he helped get the boxer Rocky Graziano back on track on his life.

Lou Gehrig had a very unusual life. Lou Gehrig was a boy born in a poor family. His parents were German immigrants who lived in New York City. His real name was Heimlich (Henry) Louis Gehrig. They called him “Lou” so they didn’t get mixed up with his father, who had the same name as him. Sadly, his father never got to know him. This is because he had several jobs and when he had free time he went to a bar. His mom was very careful, trying not to let Lou out of sight. Believe it or not, Lou’s main sport was football when he was a kid. Lou Gehrig went to Columbia University. He didn’t “fit in” because of his strong accent and his large size. He never could focus on school because he had many jobs to help his family get much needed money. He tried his best though. As you can see Lou Gehrig’s early years were very unique.

Lou Gehrig accomplished many things in his life. There are three things that I believe to be his greatest accomplishments. His #3 accomplishment is that he was considered a very good family man. One of the reasons this is is because he bought a house for his parents when he was a MLB (Major League Baseball) player. Most players would probably never do that. I think #2 is very sad. What is sad from this accomplishment is that he died from it. The accomplishment that killed him is a thing that they use to call the Lou Gehrig disease. I am not sure what it is called now though. What I think the #1 accomplishment is that he was one of the best baseball players of all time. He set many records and won many of awards. Those were what I think the top three best accomplishments of his life.

Lou Gehrig had many problems that a lot of other people also have. Here are a few. One of his problems was injuries. He played very well when injured and he never would complain so the team didn’t know he was injured until sometime after. Another one of his problems was that his mom would never let him out of her sight. It was very hard for him to get married. Also in school he didn’t “fit in.” He was very large and he was always made fun of. These were three of Lou’s problems.

Lou Gehrig had many awards playing the game he loved but he never bragged about it. One of his awards was a triple crown. It is one of the hardest awards to win. You have to lead the league in RBIs, stolen bases (or home runs) and hitting percentage. He led his team to win the World Series plenty of times. Of course some of those times he won the World Series MVP award. He gave a lot of honor to his teammates and his coaches. Those were three of the many times Lou got an award from playing the game he loved.

There are many reasons Lou Gehrig was a hero. Here are a few. One of those reasons is that he was a big influence on other people’s lives. He would always play baseball with kids. He always had a positive attitude too. He always had it even when he was ill. Also Lou Gehrig was a very good teammate. He never yelled at his teammates and coaches. Those were some of the reasons that Lou Gehrig was a hero.

Lou Gehrig had many traits that are very hard to find these days. Here are a few. One of these traits was loyalty. Lou would never think of himself first. Lou was also very determined. Most of his free time he would spend playing baseball. One more trait is that he was courageous. He made a fairwell speech when he was ill in front of thousands and thousands of fans. Those were some of the traits that Lou Gehrig had.

As you can see, whoever you are, and whatever you do, if you love something so much and work hard at it, you can accomplish almost anything just like Lou Gehrig.