Lou Gehrig was 23 years old; he left Colombia University and joined
the Yankees in 1923, but spent two full seasons sitting on the bench. The
Yankees already had a solid first baseman named Wally Pipp, who wasn't about
to give up his job. But you probably know that in 1925, Pipp was struck in
the head by a pitch, and had to sit out a few games. He ended up sitting out
the rest of the season, and was traded afterwards to Cincinnati. Gehrig became baseball's
Iron Man, and did not miss another game until 1939; Pipp became a popular metaphor
for someone who loses their job after phoning in sick with a headache.
Gehrig played 17 years in
total, crushed 493 home runs, led the league in RBI five times, won a
Triple Crown, and ranks among baseball's greatest hitters. He and Ruth
were an odd couple; Ruth was the loud, robust superstar with a gargantuan
appetite for both food and women. Gehrig was quiet and unassuming, shy of
the spotlight, and had a fairy-tale marriage to his wife Eleanor. The
character played by Gary Cooper in
The Pride Of The Yankees was
probably similar in demeanour and humbleness, though I doubt that the real
Gehrig was as clutzy.
One thing Ruth and Gehrig
did have in common was enormous, ox-like strength. Again, with Gehrig this
was not so obvious. Unlike Ruth, he was not overflowing with muscle and
fat; unlike Jimmie Foxx, he did not cut his sleeves short to show off
his bulging biceps. But he had a very strong upper-body; during the
winter, Gehrig had a passion for speed skating, and he probably had the
strongest legs of any player in the game at that time.
Six years after the end of the dead ball era,
players were still slowly adjusting, all except Ruth. The Babe was
the only player in the AL with more than 20 homers; Al Simmons was
second, with 19. That's a difference of 28 between the top two home
run hitters.
I think the top performers of this group were Ruth, Gehrig, and
Goose Goslin. Both Harry Heilmann and Heinie Manush had strong
numbers, but they missed playing time and didn't produce as many
runs as the other top hitters. "Tioga" George Burns hit 64 doubles,
the second-highest total ever, but his other power numbers were
weak.
Tony "Poosh 'Em Up" Lazzeri was a rookie, another young slugger
produced by the Yankees. His nickname referred to his ability to drive
baserunners home. He became immortalized as a member of the
Yankees' "Murderers' Row" team of 1927, and was inducted into the
Hall Of Fame in the mid-1990's, almost 50 years after he died. He
was a good player, a Jeff Kent-type player who drove in lots of runs,
but his place among the greats is questionable, and his career wasn't
very long.
The only player of
the above group who stands out was Joe Sewell. Sewell was the best hitter
among the middle infielders, and was likely the best defensive player,
too. And Sewell's team (the Indians) had a good year, finishing only
three games behind the Yankees.
