Nothing beats spending a summer afternoon at a baseball stadium. Most fans would give their eye teeth to sit in Wrigley Field's bleachers with the sun shining down on them, enjoying a hot dog and washing it down with a cold beer. But if you can't stand the scorching sun, there's nothing more magical than the sight of a white baseball against the night sky in Fenway Park right before it disappears over the Green Monster.
On July 4, back in the summer of 1939, the New York Yankees held "Lou Gehrig Day" at Yankee Stadium. Two weeks earlier, Gehrig had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and was forced into an early retirement from the game he loved so much. "Ladies and gentlemen," apologized the master of ceremonies at Yankee Stadium, "Lou has asked me to thank you all for him. He is too moved to speak." But the fans wouldn't stand for it. The 61,808 people in attendance cheered, hooted and hollered, and wouldn't stop until finally an emotional Lou Gehrig took the microphone for what would become one of the most memorable moments in baseball history and one of the top 100 speeches of all time. Gehrig had nothing prepared, he simply spoke from the heart:
"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 this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?
Sure I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with the wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?
Sure I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coasts remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and a mother who worked all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."
When Lou Gehrig stepped away from the microphone, the crowd stood and applauded for nearly two minutes. And two years later, he was gone; a bittersweet ending to a brilliant career.
Gehrig became a symbol of what sports, and maybe what life, is all about: accepting your destiny, giving it your all, and living every moment to its fullest. For nearly 74 years, generations of people have thanked him for the inspiration and for showing them how to handle adversity. He summed it up in 276 heart-wrenching words and those words will continue to echo through the ages.
In a few short minutes, a speaker can deliver a powerful message with significant impact. As long as the speech is relevant and it inspires an audience, the speech has the potential to be great.
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