From the Facebook page —- When We Wore Fedoras

June 26, 1920 – Lou Gehrig gets his first national mention when, as a high school junior for New York City’s School of Commerce, he steals the show in a high school championship game against Lane Tech in Chicago at Wrigley Field . The game was played in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 spectators. His grand slam home run, only the 19th ever hit in the ballpark, in the 8th gave the New York team a 12 – 8 victory. Scouts sit with open mouths as the ball sails out of the park.

The next day, an article in the Chicago Tribune’s sports section read: “Gehrig’s blow would have made any big leaguer proud, yet it was walloped by a boy who hasn’t yet started to shave.”

The New York Daily News reported that “the bright star of the inter-city game was ‘Babe’ Gehrig.” It may have been the first time that sportswriters compared Lou to the Babe, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Lou Gehrig would die of Amyotrophic Lateral Schlerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, on June 2, 1941, just before his 38thbirthday.  In tribute to him two years later in November 1943, the students of the High School of Commerce launched a fund-raising drive.  Within two months they had raised the equivalent of $30,000 today, with which to purchase an ambulance as a gift to the United States Army.