THE LUCKIEST MAN | Tests at the Mayo Clinic revealed that Gehrig was dying of a disease that had no cure. On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, Lou accepted a trophy from one of his greatest admirers, manager Joe McCarthy, then grinned as Babe Ruth impulsively hugged him. In a 174-word speech that has been called baseball's Gettysburg Address, Lou bravely said, "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."

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