The Yankees declared July 4, 1939 to be "Lou Gehrig Day", on which they retired his number 4, the first retired number in baseball. Gehrig made a famous speech in which he declared himself to be "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." He died two years later of complications from ALS (commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease").
Although initially associated with the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Yankee teams of the mid-1920s, the term "Murderers Row" commonly refers to the core of the 1927 Yankee hitting lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri. The 1927 Yankees batted .307, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, and outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs.
Nicknamed "Happy Jack", Chesbro finished his career with a win-loss record of 198-132, an earned run average of 2.68, and 1,265 strikeouts. His 41 wins during the 1904 season remains an American League record.
Red Sox owner Harry Frazee set in motion the "Curse of the Bambino" by selling his prized possession to the rival Yankees to finance his latest Broadway production.
At the age of 35, Colavito pitched two and two-thirds scoreless innings as a reliever in the first game of a doubleheader against the league-leading Detroit Tigers, making him the last position player to be credited as the winning pitcher in a game until Brent Mayne in 2000.
Whitey Ford became known as the "Chairman of the Board" for his ability to remain calm and in command during high-pressure situations. He was a ten-time MLB All-Star and six-time World Series champion, leading the American League in wins three times and in earned run average twice.
Pipp is now remembered as the man who lost his starting job to Lou Gehrig, launching Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games. According to popular legend, Pipp asked to sit out a game due to a headache, and Gehrig filled in for the next 14 years.
On August 16, 1920, Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch from Yankees pitcher Carl Mays and died 12 hours later. His death was largely responsible for the spitball being banned after the 1920 season.
Jeter earned the nickname "Captain Clutch" due to his outstanding postseason play. He holds MLB postseason records for games played (158), plate appearances (734), at-bats (650), hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), runs scored (111), and total bases (302).
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