Lou Gehrig
| Lou Gehrig | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Baseman | |
| Born: June 19, 1903 | |
| Died: June 2 1941 (aged 37) | |
| Batted: Left | Threw: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| June 15, 1923 for the New York Yankees | |
| Final game | |
| April 30, 1939 for the New York Yankees | |
| Career statistics | |
| AVG | .340 |
| HR | 493 |
| RBI | 1995 |
| Teams | |
| New York Yankees (1923-1939) | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Henry Louis ("Lou") Gehrig (June 19 1903 – June 2 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was one of the most outstanding American baseball players of the twentieth century, setting more than a score of Major League and American League records and voted the greatest first baseman of all-time by the Baseball Writers' Association.[1] His record for most career grand slam home runs (23) still stands today. A native of New York City, he played for the New York Yankees until his career was tragically cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Gehrig was known as "The Iron Horse" for his durability. Over a 15 year span between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games. The streak was broken when Gehrig became disabled with the fatal neuromuscular disease that would eventually claim his life just two years later. His streak, long believed to be one of baseball's few unbreakable records, stood for 56 years until finally broken by Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6, 1995.
Gehrig was one of the best hitters of all-time, accumulating almost 2,000 RBIs in seventeen seasons with a lifetime batting average of .340, a lifetime on-base percentage of .447, and a lifetime slugging average of .632. A 6-time All-Star (the first All-Star game was not until 1933), he won the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936 and was a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBI's.
His popularity with fans endures to this day, as is evidenced by his being the leading vote getter on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen in 1999.
Early life
Lou Gehrig was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, the son of poor German immigrants Heinrich Gehrig and Christina Fack. His father worked as a janitor but was frequently unemployed due to epilepsy, so his mother was the breadwinner and disciplinarian. Both parents considered baseball to be a schoolyard game; his domineering mother steered young Lou toward a career in architecture because an uncle in Germany was a financially successful architect.[2]
Gehrig attended Columbia University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He could not play intercollegiate baseball for the Lions because he played baseball for a summer professional league during his freshman year. At the time, he was unaware that doing so jeopardized his eligibility to play any collegiate sport. Gehrig was ruled eligible to play on the Lions' football team and was a standout fullback. Gehrig first garnered national attention for his baseball talents while playing in a game at Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field) on June 26 1920. Gehrig's New York School of Commerce team was playing a team from Chicago's Lane Tech High School. With his team winning 8-6 in the eighth inning, Gehrig hit a grand slam completely out of the Major League ballpark, an unheard-of feat for a 17-year old high school boy.[3]
Major League Baseball Career
Gehrig joined the Yankees midway through the 1923 season and made his debut on June 15 1923 as a pinch hitter. In his first two seasons, Gehrig saw limited playing time, mostly as a pinch hitter — he played in only 23 games and was not on the Yankees' 1923 World Series roster. In 1925, he batted 437 times for a very respectable .295 batting average with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs.
Gehrig's breakout season would come in 1926. He batted .313 with 47 doubles, an American League leading 20 triples, 16 home runs, and 112 RBIs. In the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Gehrig hit .348 with two doubles and 4 RBI's. Still, the Cardinals won a seven-game Series, winning four games to three.
In 1927 Gehrig put up one of the greatest seasons by any batter. That year, Gehrig hit .373 batting average, with 218 hits, 52 doubles, 20 triples, 47 home runs, 175 runs batted in, and .765 slugging average. His 117 extra-base hits that season are second all-time to Babe Ruth’s 119 extra base hits and his 447 total bases are third all-time to Babe Ruth's 457 total bases in 1921 and Rogers Hornsby's 450 in 1922. Gehrig's great season helped the 1927 Yankees to a 110-44 record, the AL pennant, and a 4-game sweep over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. Although the AL recognized his season by naming him league MVP, his season was overshadowed by Babe Ruth’s 60 home run season and the overall dominance of the 1927 Yankees, a team often cited as the greatest team of all-time.
Gehrig established himself as a bona fide star in his own right despite playing in the omnipresent shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career. Gehrig became one of the greatest run producers in baseball history. His record of 500+ RBIs over any 3 seasons has not been reached by any other player in baseball history and Gehrig did this in 3 consecutive seasons. He had 6 seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), 8 seasons with 150 or more RBI's, and 11 seasons with over 100 walks, 8 seasons with 200 or more hits, and 5 seasons with more than 40 home runs. He led the American League in runs scored 4 times, home runs 3 times, and RBIs 5 times; his 184 RBIs in 1931 is still an American League record (and second all-time to Hack Wilson's 190 RBI's in 1930).
During the 10 seasons (1925-1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were both Yankees and played a majority of games, Gehrig only had more home runs in 1934, when he hit 49 compared to Ruth’s 22. (Ruth played 125 games that year.) They tied at 46 in 1931. Ruth had 424 homers compared to Gehrig’s 347, some 22.2% more. Gehrig had more RBIs in 7 years (1925, 1927, 1930-1934) and they tied in 1928. Ruth had 1316 RBIs compared to Gehrig’s 1436, with Gehrig having 9.9% more. Gehrig had more hits in 8 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930-34). Gehrig had a higher slugging average in 2 years (1933-34). And Gehrig had a higher batting average in 7 years (1925, 1927-28, 1930, 1932-34). For that span, Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth.
He hit four home runs in a game in 1932 against the Philadelphia Athletics and narrowly missed another one when he shot a deep fly ball to center field and center fielder Al Simmons made an amazing leaping catch to get him out. After the game, Manager Joe McCarthy told him, "Well, Lou, nobody can take today away from you..." But, as luck would have it, on that same day John McGraw chose to announce his retirement after 30 years of managing the New York Giants, and so McGraw, not Gehrig, got the headlines in the sports sections the next day and Gehrig, as usual, had second-place treatment. (Source: Baseball's Unforgettable Games (1960, by Joe Reichler and Ben Olan.)
In September 1933, Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell, the daughter of Chicago Parks Commissioner Frank Twitchell.
In a 1936 World Series cover story about Lou Gehrig and Carl Hubbell, Time magazine proclaimed Gehrig "the game's No. 1 batsman," who "takes boyish pride in banging a baseball as far, and running around the bases as quickly, as possible".[4]
2,130 consecutive games
On June 1 1925, Gehrig was sent in to pinch hit for light-hitting shortstop Paul "Pee Wee" Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp was in a slump, as were the Yankees as a team, so Huggins made several lineup changes to boost their performance. No one could have imagined that 14 years later Gehrig would still be there, playing day after day through injury and illness.
In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch hitting appearances and fortuitous timing; in others, the streak continued despite injuries. Late in life, X-rays disclosed that Gehrig had sustained a number of fractures during his playing career. Some examples:
- On April 23 1933, Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehall beaned Gehrig, knocking him nearly unconscious. Still, Gehrig recovered and was not removed from the game.
- On June 14 1933, Gehrig was ejected from the game, along with manager Joe McCarthy, but had already been at bat, so he got credit for playing the game.
- On July 13 1934, Gehrig suffered a "lumbago attack" and had to be assisted off the field. In the next day's away game, he was listed in the lineup as "shortstop," batting lead-off. In his first and only plate appearance, he singled and was promptly replaced by a pinch runner to rest his throbbing back, never actually taking the field.
Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played stood until September 6 1995, when Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game to establish a new record. The monumental event occurred in Baltimore, which shares some coincidences with the Yankees:
- The Yankees were founded as the Baltimore Orioles (the current Orioles franchise operated as the St. Louis Browns from 1902 to 1953).
- Gehrig's first major league game was against the St. Louis Browns.
His illness
At the midpoint of the 1938 season, Gehrig's performance began to diminish. At the end of that season, he said, "I tired midseason. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again." Although his final 1938 stats were respectable (.295 batting average, 114 RBI's, 170 hits, .523 slugging average, 758 plate appearances with only 75 strikeouts, and 29 home runs), it was a dramatic drop from his 1937 season (when he batted .351 and slugged at .643).
When the Yankees began their 1939 spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida, it was obvious that Gehrig no longer possessed his once-formidable power. Even Gehrig's baserunning was affected. Throughout his career, Gehrig was considered an excellent runner on the basepaths, but as the 1939 season got underway, his coordination and speed had deteriorated significantly.
By the end of April, his statistics were the worst of his career, with just 1 RBI and an anemic .143 batting average. Fans and the press openly speculated on Gehrig's abrupt decline. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, said in one article:
| “ | I think there's something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don't know what it is. But I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers 'go' overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It's something deeper than that in this case, though. I have watched him very closely and this is what I have seen: I have seen him time a ball perfectly, swing on it as hard as he can, meet it squarely - and drive a soft, looping fly over the infield. In other words, for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn't there.... he is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn't going anywhere. | ” |
Joe McCarthy was facing increasing pressure from Yankee management to switch Gehrig to a part-time role, but he could not bring himself to do it. Things came to a head when Gehrig had to struggle to make a routine put-out at first base. The pitcher, Johnny Murphy, had to wait for Gehrig to drag himself over to the bag so he could catch Murphy's throw. Murphy said, "Nice play, Lou." That was the thing Gehrig dreaded — his teammates felt they had to congratulate him on simple chores like put-outs, like older brothers patting their little brother on the head.
On April 30, Gehrig went hitless against the weak Washington Senators. Gehrig had just played his 2,130th consecutive major league game.
On May 2, the next game after a day off, Gehrig approached McCarthy before the game and said, "I'm benching myself, Joe." McCarthy acquiesced and put Ellsworth "Babe" Dahlgren in at first base, and also said that whenever Gehrig wanted to play again, the position was his. Gehrig himself took the lineup card out to the shocked umpires before the game, ending the amazing 14-year stamina streak. Before the game began, the stadium announcer told the fans, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time Lou Gehrig's name will not appear on the Yankee lineup in 2,130 consecutive games." The Detroit fans gave Gehrig a standing ovation while he sat on the bench with tears in his eyes. Gehrig stayed with the Yankees as Team Captain for a few more weeks, but never played baseball again.
Diagnosis of ALS
As Lou Gehrig's debilitation became steadily worse, Eleanor called the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her call was immediately transferred to Dr. Charles William Mayo, who had been following Gehrig's career and his mysterious loss of strength. Dr. Mayo told Eleanor to bring Gehrig as soon as possible.
Eleanor and Lou flew to Rochester from Chicago, where the Yankees were playing at the time, arriving at the Mayo Clinic on June 13, 1939. After six days of extensive testing at Mayo Clinic, the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS") was confirmed on June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday.[5] The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, and a life expectancy of fewer than three years, although there would be no impairment of mental functions. Gehrig was probably told that the cause of ALS was unknown but it was painless, non-contagious and cruel — the nervous system was destroyed but the mind remains intact.
In a letter Gehrig wrote to "break the news" to Eleanor, he said (in part):
| “ | The bad news is lateral sclerosis, in our language chronic infantile paralysis. There isn't any cure... there are very few of these cases. It is probably caused by some germ...Never heard of transmitting it to mates... There is a 50-50 chance of keeping me as I am. I may need a cane in 10 or 15 years. Playing is out of the question... | ” |
Following Gehrig's visit to the Mayo Clinic, he briefly rejoined the Yankees in Washington, DC. As his train pulled into Union Station, he was greeted by a group of Boy Scouts, happily waving and wishing him luck. Gehrig waved back, but leaned forward to his companion, a reporter, and said, "They're wishing me luck - and I'm dying."[5]
"The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"
On June 21, the New York Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement and proclaimed July 4 1939 "Lou Gehrig Day" at Yankee Stadium. Between games of the Independence Day doubleheader against the Washington Senators, the poignant ceremonies were held on the diamond. Dozens of people, including many from other major league teams, came forward to give Gehrig gifts and to shower praise on the dying slugger. The 1927 World Championship banner, from Gehrig's first World Series win, was raised on the flagpole, and the members of that championship team, known as "Murderer's Row," attended the ceremonies. New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and the Postmaster General were among the notable speakers, as was Babe Ruth.
Joe McCarthy, struggling to control his emotions, then spoke of Lou Gehrig, with whom there was a close, almost father and son-like bond. After describing Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman, and citizen that baseball has ever known," McCarthy could stand it no longer. Turning tearfully to Gehrig, the manager said, "Lou, what else can I say except that it was a sad day in the life of everybody who knew you when you came into my hotel room that day in Detroit and told me you were quitting as a ballplayer because you felt yourself a hindrance to the team. My God, man, you were never that."
The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number "4," making him the first player in history to be afforded that honor. Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques, and trophies. Some came from VIPs; others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. The Yankees gave him a silver trophy with their signatures engraved on it. Inscribed on the front was a special poem written by New York Times writer John Kieran. The trophy cost only about $5, but it became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions.[6]
After the presentations, Gehrig took a few moments to compose himself, then approached the microphone, and addressed the crowd:
| “ | Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been to ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in the white coats remember you with trophies - that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know. So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you. | ” |
The crowd stood and applauded for almost two minutes. Gehrig was visibly shaken as he stepped away from the microphone, and wiped the tears away from his face with his handkerchief.[6] Babe Ruth came over and hugged him, in a memorable moment forever engraved in baseball lore.
Later that year, the Baseball Writers Association elected Lou Gehrig to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, waiving the mandatory five-year waiting period. At age 36, he was the youngest player to be so honored.
The final years after baseball
"Don't think I am depressed or pessimistic about my condition at present," Lou Gehrig wrote following his retirement from baseball. Struggling against his ever worsening physical condition, he added, "I intend to hold on as long as possible and then if the inevitable comes, I will accept it philosophically and hope for the best. That's all we can do."[5]
In October 1939, he accepted Mayor LaGuardia's appointment to a ten-year term as a New York City Parole Commissioner. Behind the glass door to his office, lettered "Commissioner Gehrig," he met with many poor and struggling people of all races, religions, and ages, some of whom would complain that they just "got a bad break." Gehrig never scolded them or preached about what a "bad break" really was. He visited New York City's correctional facilities, but insisted that they not be covered by news media. To avoid any appearance of grandstanding, Gehrig made sure his listing on letterhead, directories, and publications read simply, "Henry L. Gehrig".[7]
On June 2 1941 at 10:10 p.m., 16 years to the day after he replaced Wally Pipp at first base, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in Riverdale, which is part of the Bronx, New York. He was 37 years old. Upon hearing the news, Babe Ruth and his wife Claire immediately left their Riverside Drive apartment on Manhattan's upper west side and went to the Gehrig's house to console Eleanor. Mayor LaGuardia ordered flags in New York to be flown at half-staff and Major League ballparks around the nation did likewise.[8]
Following the funeral at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale, Gehrig's remains were cremated and interred on June 4 at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. As a coincidence, Lou Gehrig and Ed Barrow are both interred in the same section of Kensico Cemetery, which is next door to Gate of Heaven Cemetery, where the graves of Babe Ruth and Billy Martin are located.
Eleanor Gehrig never remarried following her husband's passing, dedicating the rest of her life to supporting ALS research.[3] She joined Lou Gehrig in death on March 6, 1984, on her 80th birthday.
The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig in centerfield at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941, the shrine lauding him as, "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time." Gehrig's monument joined the one placed there in 1932 to Miller Huggins, which would eventually be followed by Babe Ruth's in 1949. Upon Gehrig's monument rests an actual bat used by him, now bronzed.
Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan on East 94th Street (between 1st and Second Avenues) is memorialized with a plaque marking the site. The Gehrig's house at 5204 Delafield Ave. in the Bronx where Lou Gehrig died still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque.
Accomplishments: records, awards, and distinctions
Career Statistics
| G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | BB | SO | SH | HBP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 2164 | 8,001 | 2,721 | 534 | 163 | 493 | 1,888 | 1,995 | 1,508 | 790 | 106 | 45 | .340 | .447 | .632 |
Major League Baseball career records
- Grand slams: 23
- Runs batted in by a first baseman: 1,995
- Consecutive seasons, 120+ RBI: 8 (1927-1934)
- Seasons, 100+ RBI: 13 (1926-1938; tied with Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx)
- Consecutive seasons, 100+ RBI: 13 (1926-1938; tied with Jimmie Foxx)
- Runs scored by a first baseman: 1,888
- Highest on-base percentage by a first baseman: .447
- Most bases on balls by a first baseman: 1,508
- Highest slugging average by a first baseman: .632
- Most extra base hits by a first baseman: 1190
Major League Baseball single season records
- Runs-batted-in by a first baseman: 184 (1931; also the American League record)
- Runs scored by a first baseman: 167 (1936)
- Highest slugging average by a first baseman: .765 (1927)
- Extra Base Hits, by a first baseman: 121 (1927)
- Most total bases by a first baseman: 447 (1927)
Major League Baseball single game records
- Home Runs: 4 (June 3 1932, vs. Philadelphia Athletics, at Shibe Park) (held with 14 other players)
Awards
- inducted to National Baseball Hall of Fame: 1939
- American League MVP: 1927, 1936 (runner-up in 1931 and 1932)
- Named to seven All-Star teams (1933-1939). (All-Star Game began in 1933)
- Ranked #6 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, chosen in 1999.
- Named starting first baseman on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team (1999) - Gehrig got more votes for the team than any other player
- July 4 1939 farewell speech is voted by fans as the fifth greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002.
- The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in his honor and is given to players who best exemplify Lou Gehrig's character and integrity both on and off the field.
|
| Lou Gehrig is a member of Baseball Hall of Fame |
Since the award was created in 1955, the name of each winner has been placed on the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Other distinctions
- Triple crown of hitting in 1934 (.363 batting average, 49 home runs, 165 RBI)
- Only player in history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons (1927, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936)
- With Stan Musial, the only player to collect at least 500 doubles, 150 triples, and 400 home runs in a career
- One of only six players (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams) to end their career with a minimum .320 batting average, 350 home runs, and 1,500 RBI.
- Only player to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season in three different seasons (1927, 1930, 1934).
- Scored game-winning run in 8 World Series games.
- First baseball player to have his uniform number retired.
On film
- In 1942, the life of Lou Gehrig was immortalized in the movie, The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper as the Iron Horse and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor. It received 11 Academy Award nominations and one Oscar. Real-life Yankees Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig and Bill Dickey, then still an active player, played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern.
- In 1978, a TV movie A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story was released, starring Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann and Eleanor and Lou Gehrig, and based on the 1976 autobiography My Luke and I written by Eleanor and Joseph Durso.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Frank Graham, Lou Gehrig: A Quiet Hero. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969.
- ↑ Ray Robinson, Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time. New York: Harper, 1991.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 William Kashatus, Lou Gehrig: A Biography. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.
- ↑ "Equinoctial Climax," Time magazine, Oct. 5, 1936. The Yankees won the Series vs. the Giants in six games, with Gehrig hitting three home runs.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jonathan Eig, Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Day He Retired, S. Kaden, 2003
- ↑ New York City Parole Commission history, In appointing Gehrig as a Parole Commissioner, Mayor LaGuardia said, "I believe he will be not only a capable, intelligent commissioner but that he will be an inspiration and a hope to many of the younger boys who have gotten into trouble. Surely the misfortune of some of the young men will compare as something trivial with what Mr. Gehrig has so cheerfully and courageously faced." Gehrig continued to go regularly to his City Hall office until a month before his death.
- ↑ Time magazine, June 16, 1941.
External links
- Lou Gehrig Memorial Website
- Lou Gehrig's page on the Baseball Hall of Fame website
- Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics
- Audio excerpt of Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech
- Video, Audio and Text of Lou Gehrig's Farewell to Baseball Address
- Gehrig's shining legacy of courage, Major League Baseball tribute by Mark Newman on Gehrig's 100th birthday.
- Historical stats at MLB.com
| Preceded by: George Burns |
American League Most Valuable Player 1927 |
Succeeded by: Mickey Cochrane |
| Preceded by: Babe Ruth |
American League RBI Champion 1927-1928 (1928 with Babe Ruth) |
Succeeded by: Al Simmons |
| Preceded by: Al Simmons |
American League RBI Champion 1930-1931 |
Succeeded by: Jimmie Foxx |
| Preceded by: Babe Ruth |
American League Home Run Champion 1931 (with Babe Ruth) |
Succeeded by: Jimmie Foxx |
| Preceded by: Ed Delahanty |
Batters with 4 home runs in one game June 3, 1932 |
Succeeded by: Chuck Klein |
| Preceded by: Jimmie Foxx |
American League Triple Crown 1934 |
Succeeded by: Ted Williams |
| Preceded by: Jimmie Foxx |
American League Batting Champion 1934 |
Succeeded by: Buddy Myer |
| Preceded by: Jimmie Foxx |
American League Home Run Champion 1934 |
Succeeded by: Jimmie Foxx & Hank Greenberg |
| Preceded by: Jimmie Foxx |
American League RBI Champion 1934 |
Succeeded by: Hank Greenberg |
| Preceded by: Jimmie Foxx & Hank Greenberg |
American League Home Run Champion 1936 |
Succeeded by: Joe DiMaggio |
| Preceded by: Hank Greenberg |
American League Most Valuable Player 1936 |
Succeeded by: Charlie Gehringer |
| Preceded by: Everett Scott |
New York Yankees team captain April 21, 1935 to June 2, 1941 |
Succeeded by: Thurman Munson |
| |||||||||||
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