How Lou ‘Iron Horse’ Gehrig Knew When It Was Time For Him to Retire From Baseball

In a short clip from the Smithsonian Channel series Sports Detectives, several sports writers speak to the incredible talent of Lou Gehrig, his long-running attendance streak that earned him the “Iron Horse” nickname and how, after his falling RBI and poor game performance caused him to get checked out, he made the brave decision to step away from the game being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the motor neuron disease for which he was colloquially named.

Lou Gehrig was the living embodiment of excellence and reliability on the field. When he started underperforming in 1938, many suspected something was going on.

Gehrig’s heroic and emotional 1939 retirement speech in part.

On July 4, 2015, Major League Baseball paid a beautiful tribute to Lou Gehrig . It was the 75th anniversary of his retirement speech.