Major League Baseball has teamed up with many international non profit organizations in its lifetime but perhaps none is quite as near to its heart as the ALS Association. ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a devastating disease that is known more often as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named for the Hall of Fame first baseman who was struck with this disease that cut short his storybook career in the major league of baseball.

Lou Gehrig was not the first person nor the last that has had ALS but he was the most recognizable when in 1938, halfway through the baseball season, he ran out of energy. Prior the this, Gehrig has been known as the “Iron Horse” for his incredible endurance and streak of 2,130 games in a row. This consecutive streak stood in the Major Leagues baseball record book until Cal Ripken Jr. erased it nearly 60 years later. He was also known as a hitter and probably the best first base hitter in the history of the game, putting his name in the record book and getting recognized for his batting even while he played alongside Babe Ruth. So, when he announced his retirement, it was a shock to players, fans and even Gehrig himself. The deadly disease that struck him took his life nearly three years later.

In order to help raise funds for the fight against ALS and to honor Gehrig, Major Leagues baseball has teamed up with the ALS, the most prominent of the American non profit organizations to fight the disease. The “4 ALS Awareness” program combines four American non profit organizations that target ALS and Major League Baseball for a year long effort to raise funds and awareness which includes an online auction at mlb.com, advertising and patches sewn on player uniforms.

This awareness effort culminates on July 4,2009 when all Major League ballparks will host readings of Lou Gehrig’s famous retirement speech on its 70th anniversary. The speech, when originally delivered, was an incredibly powerful moment for those who attended and still stands as one of the most poignant moments in Major Leagues Baseball history if not the history of sport. His speech was short but memorable and begins with the famous lines: “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Originally, Gehrig delivered the speech between doubleheaders at Yankee stadium and it is for that reason that the speech will be read at all ballparks.

ALS has taken the life of other famous players and people along with afflicting nearly 30,000 Americans at any time. In 1999, famed pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter also was overwhelmed in his fight against ALS. Other notables include jazz great Charles Mingus, NBA Hall of Fame player George Yardley, and actor David Niven. The most famous living ALS victim who has fought the disease since being diagnosed in well-known physicist Stephen Hawking. Although the list of victims will undoubtedly and unfortunately continue to grow, it will always be known in the United States for its first and most famous victim, Lou Gehrig.

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