Lou Gehrig_The Lost Memoir by Alan Gaff

Author:Alan Gaff [Gaff, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781797104553
Goodreads: 53417595
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2020-05-12T00:00:00+00:00

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Spring training in 1926 started with two lopsided losses to the Braves, 18–2 and 16–4. The Yankees, described as “a rabble [that] clowned in witless confusion,” seemed indifferent and their manager apathetic. Westbrook Pegler, one of the nation’s most popular and influential writers, wrote a column that said, “Miller Huggins hasn’t got a team to manage. And if he had one, he couldn’t manage it.” Ed Barrow sent a copy to Huggins and instructed, “Put this on the clubhouse bulletin board. Let those fellows see what one sportswriter thinks of them.” Barrow was mad. Huggins was mad. The entire Yankees roster was mad. They concluded their preseason by beating the Dodgers fourteen games in a row, Lou batting over .400.

Gehrig’s hitting did not let up. Four games into the regular season, on April 17, he stroked a single, triple, and home run in four at bats. Paul Gallico had seen enough to predict, “Gehrig’s tremendous breadth of shoulders bespeak a long ride for the apple when he connects.” Another writer prophesied that Lou “will make the Gotham fans rub their eyes.” He continued, “Few players of recent years have shown so much improvement as Gehrig flashed in spring training this year.”

Lou Gehrig’s temper boiled over in a game against the Tigers on May 8. In the bottom half of the ninth inning, with the Yankees behind 7–5 and two outs, pitcher Earl Whitehill hit Lou’s wrist with a curveball. Whitehill protested that the ball had actually nicked the knob of his bat. Umpire Bill Dineen was unsure and checked Lou’s wrist before sending him on to first base. Earl walked over almost to Lou and began to call Gehrig “yellow” for squawking about being hit. An enraged Lou yelled back, “If you think I’m yellow, come under the stands,” but moved to settle things then and there. Rookie umpire Bill McGowan grabbed Gehrig, while Dineen pushed Whitehill back to the mound. After Babe Ruth grounded out to end the game, Gehrig and Whitehill made faces at each other as they left the field, but cooler heads kept them apart.

Both teams entered the tunnel under the grandstand, where Lou confronted center fielder and manager Ty Cobb, screaming, “You told Whitehill to hit me! He done it a-purpose! You’re always picking on me ever since I been in baseball!” In the dim light of the tunnel, there ensued what became a full-on fight. It was Custard Pie Gehrig against Peaches Cobb, no holds barred. While either shifting to take another swing or being pulled off Cobb by Babe Ruth, Lou hit his head on a concrete pillar and fell stunned. Cobb jumped up and kicked at Babe and Lou with his spikes in the semidarkness, a flagrant violation of fighting rules. Only partially dressed, Babe chased Cobb into the Tigers’ dressing room but was promptly thrown out, the door slamming behind him. Three months later, Custard Pie and Peaches were spotted on a ball field kidding around about rumors of hostility between them.

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