The reason for this speech is truly heartbreaking, Lou Gehrig was forced to retire from baseball due to illness. In 1938, Gehrig's batting average fell below .300 for the first time since 1925. After that, it became clear that something was wrong with Lou. He began to act slowly on and off the field and in one game, when he struggled to get to first to catch a simple throw from the pitcher, he knew it was time for him to go. On May 2, 1939, he retired from the starting lineup, ending his streak of 2,130 games played. Shortly thereafter, doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed Lou Gehrig with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and were told he would never be able to play baseball again; According to manager Lou Gehrig