The Case:
An Oregon man has a baseball ticket that bears an autograph "Lou Gehrig" and a scribbled date: July 4th, 1939. The contributor's mother was an avid Yankees fan who regularly paid homage to the team at their home stadium in the Bronx.
The date is one of the most famous in baseball, when Gehrig announced his retirement, stating to a Yankee Stadium crowd of 62,000 that he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
For months, unbeknownst to Gehrig and his fans, he had been suffering the progressive effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease that inhibited Gehrig from dominating the baseball field as he had done for so many years.
History Detectives heads to Yankee Stadium and Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame to learn whether this ticket was in fact signed by Lou Gehrig and to explore how the athlete once known as the "Iron Horse" was memorialized by fans and by his own family.
Related Content
Technique:
Feature:
Related Links
Explore
-
Also in Depression and WWII: 1929-1945
U.S.S Indianapolis
Are these WWII souvenirs remnants from one of Japan’s famous kamikaze attacks?
-
Also with Gwen Wright
Charlie Parker's Saxophone
Could this be jazz legend Charlie "Bird" Parker's saxophone?
-
Related Investigation
Bill Picket Saddle
Did this saddle ride into cowboy history with one of rodeo's most daring innovators?
-
Also in Depression and WWII: 1929-1945
Scottsboro Boys Stamp
Did a penny stamp help save the Scottsboro Boys from the electric chair?
-
Also in Depression and WWII: 1929-1945
Goering Gun
Did this shotgun belong to Hitler's right hand man?
-
Also with Gwen Wright
N.E.A.R Device
Was this device invented to help Americans believe they could survive a Soviet nuclear attack?
Comments
This is a place for opinions, comments, questions and discussion; a place where viewers of History Detectives can express their points of view and connect with others who value history. We ask that posters be polite and respectful of all opinions. History Detectives reserves the right to delete comments that don’t conform to this conduct. We will not respond to every post, but will do our best to answer specific questions, or address an error.