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Book - Product Information
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
Jonathan Eig
Rating: 5.0/5 Stars
Rank: 734
Lou Gehrig started his professional baseball career at a time when players
began to be seen as national celebrities.
Though this suited charismatic
men such as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, Gehrig avoided the spotlight and
preferred to speak with his bat. Best known for playing in 2,130
consecutive games as well as his courage in battling amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (a disease that now bears his name), the Iron Horse that emerges
from this book is surprisingly naïve and insecure.
He would cry in the
clubhouse after disappointing performances, was painfully shy around women
(much to the amusement of some of his teammates), and particularly devoted
to his German-immigrant mother all his life.
Even after earning the league
MVP award he still feared the Yankees would let him go. Against the advice
of Ruth and others, he refused to negotiate aggressively and so earned less
than he deserved for many seasons.
Honest, humble, and notoriously frugal,
his only vices were chewing gum and the occasional cigarette. And despite
becoming one of the finest first basemen of all time, Jonathan Eig shows
how Gehrig never seemed to conquer his self-doubt, only to manage it
better. Jonathan Eig's Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou
Gehrig offers a fascinating and well-rounded portrait of Gehrig, from
his dugout rituals and historic games to his relationships with his
mother, wife, coaches, and teammates.
His complex friendship with Ruth,
who was the polar opposite to Gehrig in nearly every respect, is given
particularly vivid attention.
Take this revealing description of how the
two men began a barnstorming tour together following their 1927 World
Series victory: "Ruth tipped the call girls and sent them on their way. Gehrig kissed his mother goodbye." Eig also shares some previously unknown
details regarding his consecutive games streak and how he dealt with ALS
during the final years of his life.
Rich in anecdotes and based on
hundreds of interviews and 200 pages of recently discovered letters, the
book effectively shows why the Iron Horse remains an American icon to this
day. --Shawn Carkonen
Editorials
Sample 3 of 10
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
Jonathan Eig
![]() | | | From Publishers Weekly | | Although his record of playing in 2,130 consecutive Major League baseball
games (from 1925 to 1939) was eventually broken in 1995, Gehrig is still
remembered as one of the sport's greatest figures. But Eig, a Wall
Street... read full editorial |
![]() | | | From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com | | On June 2, 1941, just days short of his 38th birthday, Henry Louis Gehrig
died at his house in the pleasant New York City neighborhood of
Riverdale. The disease that killed him, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was
almost... read full editorial |
![]() | | | Review | | "As my consecutive games streak grew, my curiosity about Lou Gehrig also
grew and I wanted to learn more about him and what kind of person he was.
Jonathan Eig's book, Luckiest Man, really helped me put all of the
pieces... read full editorial |
Customer Reviews
Sample 3 of 28
Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
Jonathan Eig
![]() | | | The Pride of Baseball | | (NEW YORK) April 19, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | This is what baseball should be all about. Completely steroid-free. A
classic. One of the baseball books that I highly recommend this year.
Ironically, another is BLOOD FUED: The Red Sox, the Yankees and the
Struggle of Good vs Evil. Two great summer reads! |
![]() | | | Great ballplayer, and a great person | | (Ohio) March 24, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | If you're looking for an exhaustive biography of Gehrig, one of the best to
ever grace a diamond, look no further. Eig has written a wonderful book
that gives great insight into not only Gehrig the player, but also... read full review |
![]() | | | What a Man!! | | (FRESNO AREA) May 28, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | Reading this book made me wonder, "Are there any men of this caliber of
character in MLB today?" My immediate answer would be, "No." Who in
today's big leagues would feel almost embarassed to get a raise? Who would
play... read full review |
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