Lou Gehrig Born 108 Years Ago Today

An amazing career, but and an even more amazing and courageous man. His speech on the day honoring him, July 4, 1939, still resonates today.

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in 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 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 a 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."

Hall of Fame Honorees

Major League Baseball has announced that more than 40 Hall of Fame members will be honored at this year's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. It will mark the largest gathering off inductees at an MLB event.

Anthony DiComo of mlb.com reports that among those in attendance on July 15 will be Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken Jr. and Frank Robinson. The afternoon of the game will feature a "Red Carpet Parade" along 6th Ave. in Manhattan. Fans in attendance will receive gifts from the Major League mascot thats will line the parade route.

Hall of Fame Honorees

Major League Baseball has announced that more than 40 Hall of Fame members will be honored at this year's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. It will mark the largest gathering off inductees at an MLB event.

Anthony DiComo of mlb.com reports that among those in attendance on July 15 will be Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken Jr. and Frank Robinson. The afternoon of the game will feature a "Red Carpet Parade" along 6th Ave. in Manhattan. Fans in attendance will receive gifts from the Major League mascot thats will line the parade route.

Separating the Ripkens from the Bonds

Here's a great story to illustrate how a ball player should treat people. Umpire attendant Ernie Tyler has an iron man streak of his own - 3,769 games. But that streak will end this weekend when the 83-yr old Baltimore Orioles employee attends Cal Ripken's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And who is footing the bill? Cal Ripken. He invited Tyler to be his guest.

"I saw him was he was 12 years old. I knew his father well," Tyler said Thursday. "What better time to do it than to go now? When I heard he wanted me to go to Cooperstown, how could I say no? The streak doesn't mean that much when you're thinking about your relationship with the Ripken family."

Source

photo courtesy of mlb.com

Separating the Ripkens from the Bonds

Here's a great story to illustrate how a ball player should treat people. Umpire attendant Ernie Tyler has an iron man streak of his own - 3,769 games. But that streak will end this weekend when the 83-yr old Baltimore Orioles employee attends Cal Ripken's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And who is footing the bill? Cal Ripken. He invited Tyler to be his guest.

"I saw him was he was 12 years old. I knew his father well," Tyler said Thursday. "What better time to do it than to go now? When I heard he wanted me to go to Cooperstown, how could I say no? The streak doesn't mean that much when you're thinking about your relationship with the Ripken family."

Source

photo courtesy of mlb.com

The World Wide Gas Bag

Just saw this over at Awful Announcing. The Gas Bag known as Chris Berman strikes again. With Cal Ripken going into the baseball hall of fame this weekend, various individuals were asked to give their personal memories of Cal. Here's one from America's Most Not Wanted:

"When Cal arrived in the clubhouse before the game, we were set up to meet him to conduct a brief interview. I looked at him with a straight face and said, 'Cal you think you might get in tonight?' Cal laughed, and then we had a great interview for the telecast. Next time I saw him, he thanked me for, at least for 30 seconds, letting him laugh and relax on that unbelievable night."- Chris Berman

Why don't they just rename ESPN, BERMAN, and get it over with?

The World Wide Gas Bag

Just saw this over at Awful Announcing. The Gas Bag known as Chris Berman strikes again. With Cal Ripken going into the baseball hall of fame this weekend, various individuals were asked to give their personal memories of Cal. Here's one from America's Most Not Wanted:

"When Cal arrived in the clubhouse before the game, we were set up to meet him to conduct a brief interview. I looked at him with a straight face and said, 'Cal you think you might get in tonight?' Cal laughed, and then we had a great interview for the telecast. Next time I saw him, he thanked me for, at least for 30 seconds, letting him laugh and relax on that unbelievable night."- Chris Berman

Why don't they just rename ESPN, BERMAN, and get it over with?