Henry Louis Gehrig was a popular German-American baseball player. He was most known for several

June 19th, 1939 one of the New York Yankees and baseball's most famous first baseman, Lou Gehrig, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after six days of extensive testing. Fifteen days later on July 4th, 1939 Lou Gehrig flew to Yankee stadium in New York and gave his famous, “Farewell to Baseball” speech. The speech wasn't just for Yankees fans, but for all fans of baseball. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a a nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function, usually killing the person in two to five years. Gehrig knew he didn't have long. That's why fifteen days after his diagnosis Gehrig was standing at home plate in Yankee stadium telling all baseball fans of his retirement due to illness. In under 300 words, using ethos, logos, and pathos, Gehrig transformed how baseball fans viewed him, not just as a player, but as a person. Gehrig showed the world how strong willed and fearless a person can be in the face of adversity.

Amyotrophic meaning, “no muscle nourishment” in Greek, lateral meaning where the neurons are in the spinal cord, and sclerosis meaning “scarring.” ALS, often known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named after the New York Yankee who first brought awareness to the disease in the late 1930’s, is a neurodegenerative disease, which affects the neurons in the brain. The nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are responsible for sending and receiving motor signals progressively die off, causing the deterioration of simple motor skills in patients with ALS, such as walking, talking, and eventually speaking and breathing, however thinking is not affected by ALS. Early symptoms cause the person to slowly lose mobility of limbs, but in a matter of a few years, the person loses the mobility of most of their body and will eventually lose the ability to eat and breath, which will ultimately cause death. ALS deteriorates the patient's body, however does not affect the patient's state of mind or sanity while the rest of the body shuts down. People usually get ALS between the ages of 40 and 70. However, there is a growing trend where athletes are getting ALS in their thirties. ALS can be contributed to genetic predisposition, which means that the gene that is responsible for ALS is already in the person’s DNA. In recent studies, however, it was observed that individuals who have had suffered multiple concussions or any other head trauma are

During Gehrig’s baseball struggles he voluntarily took himself out of the starting lineup because he was in such a bad slump. The reason why Gehrig was doing so bad and why his body was failing him was because he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a disease that destroys nerve cells causing disabilities, it causes weakness in the limbs. This horrible disease also causes the difficulty to speak, move, breathe, and eat. These struggles cause full time assistance and usual doctor visits. After his retirement he came back to Yankee stadium for one last farewell. He had to walk away from the game that he grew to

Other times when sitting to watch a sports game, the last thought that crosses through the mind is whether a player will be injured or will have consequences later in life. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is gaining awareness because of current uprise in athletes developing it at a very young age such as Lou Gehrig a famous baseball player. This disease affects the body by causing loss in muscle movement. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease affects the mind not the body and is a progressive degenerative disease. CTE has many diseases that fall under its category such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s, Huntington's disease and Dementia. The most common factors for these diseases are concussions and head trauma because athletes

be joined by Babe Ruth’s 1949. Lou Gehrig made history with his determined attitude toward

Lou Gehrig was born in New York City in the year 1903. Lou was born into poverty, his dad could not keep a job and could not stay sober while his mother worked hard but could not make enough to support Gehrig and his three siblings. The Gehrig family took advantage of Lou’s excellent athletic ability in baseball and football and sent him to college. At Columbia University Lou played fullback for the football team and pitcher for the baseball team while studying engineering. Although Gehrig was pitching, the New York Yankees liked the way he swung the bat so they offered him his first professional league contract. Gehrig had a much decorated major league career in the MLB. He set the record for most consecutive games played, 2,130, which is about 13 years of games. He set multiple batting records that include most Runs Batted In in a season, most home runs in one game, and winning the Triple Crown Award (Having the most home runs, RBIs, and batting average in the MLB). Lou also won six World Series titles in his baseball career with the Yankees. In 1938 Lou noticed that he was not playing baseball as well as he should be. At this time he also noticed that he was having trouble tying his shoes and other simple tasks so he scheduled a doctor’s appointment. In 1939 Lou was officially diagnosed with ALS, ending his

At a time when baseball was America’s pastime, Gehrig’s fan base was immense. Unfortunately, at the age of 36 Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS which affects the body’s nervous and muscular abilities. Due to the rapid progression of the disease, Gehrig address his fans

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a genetic disorder that has proven

Of all the players in baseball history, none possessed as much talent and humility as Lou Gehrig. His accomplishments on the field made him an authentic American hero, and his tragic early death made him a legend. Gehrig’s later glory came from humble beginnings. He was born on June 19, 1903 in New York City. The son of German immigrants, Gehrig was the only one of four children to survive. His mother, Christina, worked tirelessly, cooking, cleaning houses, and taking in laundry to make ends meet. His father, Heinrich, often had trouble finding work and had poor health. Lou Gehrig is remembered as one of the most talented and phenomenal baseball players of all time. More than that, however, he is remembered for his kind heart and winning attitude.

ALS was also called Lou Gehrig disease. The reason why it was called the Lou Gehrig diseases is because he was a famous MLB baseball player that was diagnosed with ALS and later on died from it. Lou Gehrig was born in New York City, on June 19, 1903. Lou devoted his whole life in Baseball and his family. Later on Lou was having a hard time tying his shoes and had a feeling that this can be his end of his career. In 1939, The doctor had a bad news for him which was that he was diagnosed with ALS.

ALS Association. "ALS." ALS Affects. The ALS Association. 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Lou Gehrig’s Disease Thesis: Weakness in the hands, arms, legs or slurred speech. Imagine having these symptoms and not knowing what is wrong. Then the most dreaded words are uttered, “You have Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or other wise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a disease that attacks muscles and brain cells. “ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot,but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease” (About).

ALS got the name Lou Gehrig’s disease from a New York Yankee’s baseball player. Lou Gehrig had his first symptoms when his batting average had plummeted. He couldn’t hit long balls anymore. His strength was deteriorating. He also started to walk very slowly. After things started going downhill, he found out he had the disease which would later be named after him. He had ALS. On June 4, 1939 Lou said good-bye to his fans and Yankee Stadium. He was going to retire from baseball because of the condition he was in. He was dying of ALS. There have also been many other well-known people diagnosed with this disease. Stephan Hawking was diagnosed with ALS in 1963 when he was only 21 years old, and he is still alive.

Imagine playing 2,130 games in a row, while suffering 17 fractured hands(Steve Good,1). Lou Gehrig didn't need to imagine this because he experienced this first hand. The biography, A Quiet Hero, by Frank Graham, demonstrates the heart and passionate love Lou had for the game of baseball. Lou has an immense amount of positive character traits that are quite obvious to many. On the other hand, he also has some traits that can be taken and seen negatively. Lou was a great man who played professional baseball for seventeen seasons.

Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fairly common disease in America, as nearly 4,600 people are diagnosed with the disease annually and someone is diagnosed every 90 minutes. The majority of people that have been diagnosed with ALS are middle to older aged caucasian men in between their 40’s and their 70’s, yet the diagnostic is not exclusive to any race, color, or age. “Over a period of months or years, patients with ALS develop severe, progressive muscular weakness and other symptoms caused by loss of function in both upper and lower motor neurons. Sphincter control, sensory function, intellectual abilities and skin integrity are preserved.” (Walling, 2013, pg. 1) This is a very crippling disease that can be transmitted in many different ways. The different types of Lou Gehrig 's disease: Sporadic, Familial, and Guamanian. Sporadic, which is the most common type of ALS, is the kind that has been sporadically obtain, meaning, it was not genetically passed down from generation to generation. Unlike Sporadic ALS, Familial ALS is given to future generations through genetics and by family members that have Lou Gehrig 's disease. The disease is typically passed through the genes of males, there has been very few time that the genes were passed to a female. The third type of ALS is an extremely high incidence of ALS was observed in Guam and the Trust Territories of the Pacific in the 1950 's. ALS is said to be both a genetic and environmental