LUCKIEST MAN on the face of the EARTH
Eight decades later his words endure and resonate. Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest man on the face of the Earth” oratory is considered baseball’s “Gettsyburg Address.”
Though just 277 words long, it was so moving, so eloquent that noted wordsmith William Safire included it in a book about history’s greatest speeches, alongside those delivered by popes, presidents, kings, playwrights, civil rights activists and philosophers. That this once strapping, seemingly indestructible New York Yankees slugger was able to express optimism and gratitude in the face of death remains a transcendent, inspirational moment all these years later.
On a sweltering Independence Day at a packed Yankee Stadium in 1939, Gehrig stepped up to home plate and came through wielding a microphone rather than a Louisville Slugger. The renowned line-drive hitter delivered lines that have stood the test of time.
And this June 2 — and every June 2 to follow — the Bronx Bomber’s words rang out again, in ballparks across America
