Bookends

Did you know that  Lou Gehrig hit the first and final home runs of his career on the same calendar date, 15 years apart? This fascinating coincidence spans September 27th, 1923 and 1938. Two very different points on this legend's prolific and poignant life.

The story begins at Fenway Park, not long after 1st baseman Wally Pipp injured an ankle getting off a train as the Yankees arrived in Boston for the start of a series. With his club already having clinched the pennant, manager Miller Huggins decided to rest Pipp, to get him back at 100 percent for the World Series, just a few days away.

The 20 year-old prospect who'd spent most of the season with the Hartford farm club got the chance to fill in. OK, this wasn't just some kid out of a tryout camp, but a multi-sport star at Columbia University. Still, young Mr. Gehrig was no sure bet.

Starting for the first time in his young career, Gehrig looked good, homering off Bill Percy and adding a double as the Yankees cruised to an 8-3 victory. Actually, Gehrig looked really good, going 9 for 19 in the four game series. But again, he was just a kid, with a nearly blank back-of-his-baseball-card.

In fact, when the Yankees returned home to finish out the regular season, Lou was back on the bench. Pipp was still rehabbing the ankle -- and Babe Ruth was playing 1st base. Wally returned to the lineup in time for the World Series -- in which the Yankees beat the Giants for their first title -- and young Lou was nowhere to seen.

1924 was not a year for Gehrig to remember. He got just 13 at-bats for the defending World Series champs, and spent his summer in Hartford (putting up great numbers) while Pipp turned in a solid season, hitting over .300 and leading the AL with 19 doubles.

Fate finally intervened in 1925. Wally Pipp had (or maybe didn't have) a hangover early in June. Bad timing, as the Yankees -- without an ailing Babe Ruth -- were in a deep slump. Standing ten games under .500, they were stuck in 7th place. Huggins, understandably, felt it was time to shake things up. Now 32, Pipp didn't help his own cause, sporting just a .244 average. So the skipper made a change.

Wally went to the bench and Lou's name was penciled in on the lineup card on June 2nd, batting sixth. Oh, he went 3-for-5 as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 8-3.

And Gehrig's name was back in the lineup the next game. And the next. And the next one after that. You know how the story played out for The Iron Horse.

Dial up "Plus 15 Years" on our time machine. Yankees again facing the Senators on September 27th, 1938. Gehrig, now 35, had slipped just a bit. Known for playing through injuries, he got off to a terrible start that season and was batting just .116 at the end of April. But whatever ailed him then, clearly eased up. Lou climbed above .300 for a time late in the season. After that ice cold start, he'd "only" hit 28 home runs up to that point. Number 4 wasn't hitting cleanup anymore, but had been dropped to 5th in the order, behind the most dynamic Yankee of the time. Joe DiMaggio.

Gehrig connected off Senators righthander Dutch Leonard in the bottom of the 5th. Career home run 493.

No one could envision what we'd see and learn over the next year. Gehrig's skills eroded rapidly, and by early May 1939, he took himself out of the lineup. Soon after came the ALS diagnosis, Lou's retirement and the massive show of love at what we now consider the first ever Old Timer's Day.

September 27th -- 1923 and 1938 -- the bookend home runs of Lou Gehrig's career. Amazing and true.


Comments

Mike McCann said…
Let me thank friend of this site, Rob in Virginia for having me look closer at the progression of Lou's '38 season. There's an oft repeated tale of Gehrig declining as the season went on. As the numbers clearly prove (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=gehrilo01&t=b&year=1938), that wasn't the story at all. The horrible disease that overtook Lou Gehrig was not a factor in what has long been tabbed his "first signs of decline."
September 27, 2019 at 1:19 PM
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