Lou Gehrig Career Span

Lou Gehrig, a New York City native who had studied at Columbia University, signed with the Yankees on April 29, 1923 and made his major league debut as a 19-year-old pinch hitter on June 15 of that year. For his first two seasons he sat behind first baseman Wally Pipp and spent parts of 1923 and 1924 with the minor league Hartford Senators. On June 2, 1925, Pipp asked out of the lineup with a headache and Gehrig replaced him; Pipp never won the job back, and Gehrig played in every Yankees game until April 30, 1939, a run of 2,130 consecutive games that stood as the record for 56 years.

Over that career he made seven All-Star teams, won a Triple Crown and two AL MVP awards, and was part of six World Series champions. He took himself out of the lineup on May 2, 1939, never played again, and retired that year at 36 because of ALS; that year he was elected to the Hall of Fame and his number 4 became the first uniform number retired by a team.