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Last Ride of the Iron Horse: How Lou Gehrig Fought ALS to Play One Final Championship Season
Last Ride of the Iron Horse tells the story of Lou Gehrig's final year in the Yankee lineup, as he dealt with early effects of the deadly disease ALS.
For much of the 1938 season, Gehrig -- dubbed the Iron Horse for his strength and reliability -- struggled with slumps and a mystifying loss of power. Fans booed and sportswriters called for him to be benched. Then, as the Yankees battled for the pennant in August, Lou began pounding home runs like his old self -- a turnaround that in retrospect looks truly miraculous. It may have been a rare case of temporary ALS reversal. Using rare film footage, radio broadcasts, newspapers and interviews, author Dan Joseph chronicles Gehrig's roller coaster of a year. The story begins in Hollywood, where the handsome "Larrupin' Lou" films a Western that would be his only movie. As the year unfolds, he holds out for baseball’s highest salary, battles injuries that would sideline a lesser man, wins his sixth World Series ring, and enters the political arena for the first time, denouncing the rising threat of Nazism. Joseph also answers questions that have long intrigued Gehrig's When did he sense something was wrong with his body? What were the first signs? How did he adjust? And did he still help the Yankees win the championship, even as his skills declined? 1938 would be Gehrig's last hurrah. With his strength fading, he ended his renowned consecutive games streak the following May. A few weeks later, doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed him with ALS. On July 4th, the Yankees retired his number in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium. All along, Gehrig showed remarkable courage and grace, never more so than when he told the stadium crowd, "I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."
For much of the 1938 season, Gehrig -- dubbed the Iron Horse for his strength and reliability -- struggled with slumps and a mystifying loss of power. Fans booed and sportswriters called for him to be benched. Then, as the Yankees battled for the pennant in August, Lou began pounding home runs like his old self -- a turnaround that in retrospect looks truly miraculous. It may have been a rare case of temporary ALS reversal. Using rare film footage, radio broadcasts, newspapers and interviews, author Dan Joseph chronicles Gehrig's roller coaster of a year. The story begins in Hollywood, where the handsome "Larrupin' Lou" films a Western that would be his only movie. As the year unfolds, he holds out for baseball’s highest salary, battles injuries that would sideline a lesser man, wins his sixth World Series ring, and enters the political arena for the first time, denouncing the rising threat of Nazism. Joseph also answers questions that have long intrigued Gehrig's When did he sense something was wrong with his body? What were the first signs? How did he adjust? And did he still help the Yankees win the championship, even as his skills declined? 1938 would be Gehrig's last hurrah. With his strength fading, he ended his renowned consecutive games streak the following May. A few weeks later, doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed him with ALS. On July 4th, the Yankees retired his number in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium. All along, Gehrig showed remarkable courage and grace, never more so than when he told the stadium crowd, "I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2019
67 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Dan Joseph
4 booksDan Joseph is a Washington-based journalist and author. A proud alumnus of the Indiana University School of Journalism, Dan has been an editor in the central newsroom at the Voice of America in Washington for nearly 20 years.
He is the author or co-author of four books, including "Behind the Yoi," a biography of legendary Pittsburgh Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope published in September 2024.
Dan is also a baseball historian and discovered the radio clip of Lou Gehrig saying that yes, Babe Ruth DID hit a "called shot" home run in the 1932 World Series. Look for the clip on YouTube.
He is the author or co-author of four books, including "Behind the Yoi," a biography of legendary Pittsburgh Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope published in September 2024.
Dan is also a baseball historian and discovered the radio clip of Lou Gehrig saying that yes, Babe Ruth DID hit a "called shot" home run in the 1932 World Series. Look for the clip on YouTube.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 20, 2024
At 179 pages, this is a little gem of a book chronicling the last three years of Lou Gehrig’s life. His struggles during the Yankees’ 1938 season while ALS was secretly taking hold is masterfully and concisely written. Play by play reporting in sports biographies generally leaves me bored, but not so here. Dan Joseph presents just the right amount of detail to keep you interested without bogging you down with statistics.
Although this isn’t a biography, Joseph provides enough information to give the reader a fair glimpse of who Gehrig was. His strength of character is apparent. It is no wonder he was given the title, Iron Horse, “a name coined for the first train locomotives”. To play 2,136 consecutive major league games, an Iron Horse is what you’d have to be.
Grantland Rice, a prominent sportswriter at the time, compared Gehrig to a character from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The Ballad of Fisher’s Boarding House.
“And there was Hans the blue-eyed Dane,
Bull-throated, bare of arm,”
As Joseph puts it,
“Lou was actually of German descent, but at six-foot-one, 210 pounds, with tree trunk legs, muscles rippling from his arms and back, dark wavy hair, and a pair of watchful blue eyes, he evoked the mighty figure that Kipling described.”
The center of the book contains 20 photos, 17 of which I hadn’t seen before. (And, I’ve seen a lot) There is also the wonderful cover photo of Gehrig at his locker, pipe between his teeth, and holding his number 4 jersey.
The last third of the book is priceless in its description of Lou’s ALS diagnosis, end of his consecutive games streak, Lou Gehrig day at Yankee stadium, and his short life in retirement from baseball.
It’s a sad story, but one that leaves me a bit more proud that I’m a part of the human race that could produce such a fine human being as Lou Gehrig.
If you’ve ever played the game, or just love it, you’ll enjoy this book about one of the best that ever took the field, but had to leave us tragically early.
Although this isn’t a biography, Joseph provides enough information to give the reader a fair glimpse of who Gehrig was. His strength of character is apparent. It is no wonder he was given the title, Iron Horse, “a name coined for the first train locomotives”. To play 2,136 consecutive major league games, an Iron Horse is what you’d have to be.
Grantland Rice, a prominent sportswriter at the time, compared Gehrig to a character from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The Ballad of Fisher’s Boarding House.
“And there was Hans the blue-eyed Dane,
Bull-throated, bare of arm,”
As Joseph puts it,
“Lou was actually of German descent, but at six-foot-one, 210 pounds, with tree trunk legs, muscles rippling from his arms and back, dark wavy hair, and a pair of watchful blue eyes, he evoked the mighty figure that Kipling described.”
The center of the book contains 20 photos, 17 of which I hadn’t seen before. (And, I’ve seen a lot) There is also the wonderful cover photo of Gehrig at his locker, pipe between his teeth, and holding his number 4 jersey.
The last third of the book is priceless in its description of Lou’s ALS diagnosis, end of his consecutive games streak, Lou Gehrig day at Yankee stadium, and his short life in retirement from baseball.
It’s a sad story, but one that leaves me a bit more proud that I’m a part of the human race that could produce such a fine human being as Lou Gehrig.
If you’ve ever played the game, or just love it, you’ll enjoy this book about one of the best that ever took the field, but had to leave us tragically early.
February 7, 2020
I did not know much about how Gehrig dealt with the disease ALS and even less about what his life was like after he ended his famous streak and left baseball. Dan Joseph has given me that knowledge with his focus on the last full year Lou played will the disease took more and more of his skill away from him. Lou played at a much reduced level of excellence, but he still had enough left to take the Yankees to their 3rd straight World Series championship.
I appreciated the role his wife Eleanor played in getting him through a time that was a bafflement to Lou, her, and the rest of the baseball world.
Well, written and very well researched.
I appreciated the role his wife Eleanor played in getting him through a time that was a bafflement to Lou, her, and the rest of the baseball world.
Well, written and very well researched.
September 19, 2020
A must read for all baseball fans.
I don't read many books many books, although I have 30 that are waiting in my closet for me to read. When I started reading this book I could not stop reading it. The only other baseball book I could not put down is titled "The Umpire Strikes Back" by former umpire Ron Luciano. For all you true baseball fans out there, this is worth reading and it gives you an appreciation of what Lou Gehrig went through physically his last year I'm playing. Kudos to the author for doing all of the research required to put it to print. Gehrig was truly a classy individual and very dedicated to his wife and to his baseball team.
I don't read many books many books, although I have 30 that are waiting in my closet for me to read. When I started reading this book I could not stop reading it. The only other baseball book I could not put down is titled "The Umpire Strikes Back" by former umpire Ron Luciano. For all you true baseball fans out there, this is worth reading and it gives you an appreciation of what Lou Gehrig went through physically his last year I'm playing. Kudos to the author for doing all of the research required to put it to print. Gehrig was truly a classy individual and very dedicated to his wife and to his baseball team.
March 11, 2020
Great bio of a legend
Sometimes it's hard to remember that legends were real people. I enjoyed this bio of one of baseball's greatest! Easy read backed by lots of research- baseball lovers will treaaure...
Sometimes it's hard to remember that legends were real people. I enjoyed this bio of one of baseball's greatest! Easy read backed by lots of research- baseball lovers will treaaure...
April 8, 2020
Good book. It didn't really provide much information beyond what was already published in other Gehrig books I have read but rather focused on how the disease that we now associate with him (ALS) ravaged his body during his later playing days. Interesting read for sure!!
October 4, 2020
Quick and enjoyable read
This book will be of interest to anyone who is a fan of Gehrig or the old time Yankees. It is a quick read.
This book will be of interest to anyone who is a fan of Gehrig or the old time Yankees. It is a quick read.
May 4, 2021
Even though I knew how Lou Gehrig’s story ends, and even though he died 81 years ago, I was captivated by this book and couldn’t put it down. Imagine knowing that you’re losing the very athletic abilities that had made you a baseball superstar, but not knowing what is happening to your body. This well researched book humanizes Lou Gehrig, and takes us along for his baseball ride of the 1938 and 1939 seasons. Definitely recommended for baseball fans and anyone interested in history or medicine.
July 4, 2020
Sadly true
Although the book primarily focuses on baseball stats and happenings, the “speech” and the entire Lou Gehrig Day account make the book worthwhile. The event was written about with enough emotion to make it seem as if you were there and feel the sadness of the day
Although the book primarily focuses on baseball stats and happenings, the “speech” and the entire Lou Gehrig Day account make the book worthwhile. The event was written about with enough emotion to make it seem as if you were there and feel the sadness of the day
April 8, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: THERE’S NOT MUCH NEW TO WRITE ABOUT LOU GEHRIG
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Hall of Fame New York Yankee Lou Gehrig… was perhaps the greatest first baseman in baseball history. His exploits as a ballplayer… and just as importantly his personal character on and off the field is legendary and will live on in the annals of baseball history and humanity. So much has been written about him in the seventy-eight years since his passing… and even a movie starring Gary Cooper as Lou… was released after his death and won an academy award. Synonymous with Lou’s home-runs … hits… batting average… fielding… championships… and all around good citizenship… was his quick… and unfortunately losing… battle… with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Due to Lou’s popularity… and the attention his affliction brought to this horrid disease… it is known more commonly to everyday people as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.
With all the multitude of books written over the decades about the legend… “Larrupin’ Lou” (“after a nineteenth-century verb that means “to beat or thrash””)… along with a Hollywood movie… and ESPN specials… there really isn’t much virginal literary ground when it comes to Gehrig. What the author’s game plan was… was to highlight Gehrig’s last complete season… 1938… before the disease made him end his consecutive game streak (since broken by Cal Ripken Jr.)… end his career… and fight a short battle against his demise.
The crux of the storytelling… is how Gehrig had his worst season ever… and trying to reverse engineer what comes across as trying to create 20/20 vision as to his demise and athletic regression with quotes from teammates and opponents… decades upon decades later… as if they knew what was happening in 1938. Amazingly… what was Gehrig’s worst season… was easily a season… that ninety-per-cent of big leaguers would probably have demanded a salary increase for the next season… if they had a season such as Lou’s. Gehrig’s 1938 stats included a 295 batting average… 29 home runs… 114 RBI’s… 115 runs scored…170 hits… 32 doubles… 6 triples… and 107 walks.
The trouble I found with the writing style… was that game… after game… after game… of the 1938 season… is reviewed as if from an old Western Union teletype in the days when that’s how they transmitted baseball scores and activity. A myriad of games all describing the weakness of Lou’s bat… the stranding of base runners… comments about loss of strength with promises of improvement… and of course the ubiquitous “looking back” with unimpeachable clarity thirty to seventy years later. The flow becomes flat in stretches.
No Gehrig book would be complete without his 4th of July “Luckiest Man Speech”… and an additional extremely touching scene… is with Lou sitting in the dugout the following day as a non-participant… Lou was overhead during the following scenario…. “JOE GORDON WAS TEARING AROUND SECOND BASE AND GEHRIG SAID, “IF I WERE ONLY IN THAT BOY’S SHAPE I’D BE GLAD TO PLAY FOR NOTHING.””
Of course the story ends sadly… because how could it not? Surprising is how poorly the Yankees treated one of the greatest players and Yankees of all-time… along with being a man of unimpeachable character… after he retired following the 1939 season… they literally told him they had no use for him and didn’t even offer him a meaningless title and salary… after seventeen years with the team!
NOTES: 1) this is a paperback book. 2) not counting notes and index it is 179 pages long. 3) 10 of those pages are non-glossy black and white photos.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hall of Fame New York Yankee Lou Gehrig… was perhaps the greatest first baseman in baseball history. His exploits as a ballplayer… and just as importantly his personal character on and off the field is legendary and will live on in the annals of baseball history and humanity. So much has been written about him in the seventy-eight years since his passing… and even a movie starring Gary Cooper as Lou… was released after his death and won an academy award. Synonymous with Lou’s home-runs … hits… batting average… fielding… championships… and all around good citizenship… was his quick… and unfortunately losing… battle… with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Due to Lou’s popularity… and the attention his affliction brought to this horrid disease… it is known more commonly to everyday people as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.
With all the multitude of books written over the decades about the legend… “Larrupin’ Lou” (“after a nineteenth-century verb that means “to beat or thrash””)… along with a Hollywood movie… and ESPN specials… there really isn’t much virginal literary ground when it comes to Gehrig. What the author’s game plan was… was to highlight Gehrig’s last complete season… 1938… before the disease made him end his consecutive game streak (since broken by Cal Ripken Jr.)… end his career… and fight a short battle against his demise.
The crux of the storytelling… is how Gehrig had his worst season ever… and trying to reverse engineer what comes across as trying to create 20/20 vision as to his demise and athletic regression with quotes from teammates and opponents… decades upon decades later… as if they knew what was happening in 1938. Amazingly… what was Gehrig’s worst season… was easily a season… that ninety-per-cent of big leaguers would probably have demanded a salary increase for the next season… if they had a season such as Lou’s. Gehrig’s 1938 stats included a 295 batting average… 29 home runs… 114 RBI’s… 115 runs scored…170 hits… 32 doubles… 6 triples… and 107 walks.
The trouble I found with the writing style… was that game… after game… after game… of the 1938 season… is reviewed as if from an old Western Union teletype in the days when that’s how they transmitted baseball scores and activity. A myriad of games all describing the weakness of Lou’s bat… the stranding of base runners… comments about loss of strength with promises of improvement… and of course the ubiquitous “looking back” with unimpeachable clarity thirty to seventy years later. The flow becomes flat in stretches.
No Gehrig book would be complete without his 4th of July “Luckiest Man Speech”… and an additional extremely touching scene… is with Lou sitting in the dugout the following day as a non-participant… Lou was overhead during the following scenario…. “JOE GORDON WAS TEARING AROUND SECOND BASE AND GEHRIG SAID, “IF I WERE ONLY IN THAT BOY’S SHAPE I’D BE GLAD TO PLAY FOR NOTHING.””
Of course the story ends sadly… because how could it not? Surprising is how poorly the Yankees treated one of the greatest players and Yankees of all-time… along with being a man of unimpeachable character… after he retired following the 1939 season… they literally told him they had no use for him and didn’t even offer him a meaningless title and salary… after seventeen years with the team!
NOTES: 1) this is a paperback book. 2) not counting notes and index it is 179 pages long. 3) 10 of those pages are non-glossy black and white photos.
January 22, 2023
My husband first symptoms of ALS occurred during covid, but was diagnosed in 2021 when he was 61 years. He was on Riluzole- not crazy about it! he was also on Gabapentin and Radicava not crazy about any of it either, The Rilutek (riluzole) did very little to help him. The medical team did even less. His decline was rapid and devastating. His arms weakened first, then his hands and legs. I was a master Gardener and love herbs! This ALS took my life from me, I was no longer able to work in my garden anymore because I was a full time caregiver for my husband. We stopped most of his ALS medications due to severe side effects and I started him on herbal treatments from Health Herbs Clinic (health herbs clinic. c om), the treatment has made a very huge difference for him. His symptoms including body weakness and slurred speech disappeared after few months on the treatment. He is getting active again since starting this treatment, he is able to walk and able to ride his treadmill again.
June 16, 2023
My husband who had been diagnosed with Bulbar ALS disease for 2 years at the age of 63 had all his symptoms reversed with Ayurveda medicine from natural herbs centre . com after undergoing their ALS/MND natural protocol, he no longer requires a feeding tube. God Bless all Lou Gehrig’s disease Caregivers. Stay Strong, take small moments throughout the day to thank yourself, to love your self, and pray to whatever faith, star, spiritual force you believe in and ask for strength. I can personally vouch for these remedy but you would probably need to decide what works best for you.
June 4, 2021
Major League Baseball's first annual Lou Gehrig Day sent me looking for recent books and I found 'Last Ride'. I'm glad I did. This is a short but well research trip through Gehrig's 1938 season. His last before ALS drove him from the game and took his life just a couple of years later. Dan Joseph gives a month-by-month account of Gehrig's courageous struggle to mount a last hurrah as symptoms he little understood began to chip away.
January 16, 2026
I've read several books about Lou Gehrig. One reviewer here said there was nothing new in Dan Joseph's text. Not true! I, for one, didn't know Gehrig was in an automobile accident on his way to Hollywood. The text expertly describes Gehrig's "slump" and hot streak during the 38 season. Joseph also breaks down Gehrig's performance at the 1938 World Series - something that I've never read about. This is a sad but fun read, written engagingly.
November 10, 2021
Moving account of Lou Gehrig's life, focusing especially on his last few seasons. He was an amazing athlete, and the author does a great job of highlighting how his undiagnosed ALS was affecting his ability to play well, and how well Gehrig played considering he was showing symptoms of ALS. Interesting book, and I'm not a big baseball fan, but I am definitely a Lou Gehrig fan.
July 18, 2022
The fight of his life.....
Lou Gehrig play an entire baseball season fighting the effects of a fatal disease. Dan Joseph tells Gehrig's story in great detail. So sad but true is the battle so many families have faced with ALS.
Lou Gehrig play an entire baseball season fighting the effects of a fatal disease. Dan Joseph tells Gehrig's story in great detail. So sad but true is the battle so many families have faced with ALS.
June 25, 2021
The Best
Wow a lot of moving parts here.
A sad ending but what a life Mr. Gehrig did in a short time.
A new version of Mr. Gehrig needs to be told and shown in the agony he endured.
Wow a lot of moving parts here.
A sad ending but what a life Mr. Gehrig did in a short time.
A new version of Mr. Gehrig needs to be told and shown in the agony he endured.
May 19, 2022
"How Lou Gehrig Fought ALS to Play One Final Champion Season." The subtitle tells it all. Excellent read.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews