Today would be Lou Gehrig’s 109th birthday. Baseball’s -Iron Horse- played 2130 games in a row. When I was young this was considered to be one of baseball’s untouchable records. Surely no one would come close to it- like Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak….but along came Cal Ripken Jr- who smashed the record. I am certain Ripken’s record of 2632 will never be broken- and for one good reason- no team will ever let a player get a streak going like that again.

Back to Lou Gehrig. The greatest 1-2 punch in baseball history- Ruth batting in the 3rd position [#3} followed by Gehrig cleanup [#4} can you imagine the poor pitchers who had to face them?

Gehrig’s teammates of course didn’t call him The Iron Horse.. their nickname for him? Biscuit Pants

Gehrig died at age 37 of the disease that now carries his name- in 1941{As Christopher said in “The Sopranos” “Isn’t it ironic that Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. . Without question the greatest first baseman in baseball history.