On June 1, 1925, Lou Gehrig pinch hit a single and began his “Iron Man” streak of 2,130 straight appearances with the Yankees that would end on May 2, 1939. Some myths surrounding the start of the streak:
1) 1B Wally Pipp got hurt and Gehrig never surrendered the position again. Not true! Yanks were 10 games under .500 and manager Miller Huggins decided to let Gehrig play a little. He then played a lot. Pipp actually did get hurt on July 2 but that wasn't the real reason Gehrig got to start his record.
2) Gehrig broke the streak held by Everett Scott who started his record with the Boston Red Sox on June 20, 1916 and ended it on May 5, 1925 at 1,307 consecutive games. By that time he was the New York Yankees shortstop! Scott's streak stopped on the Yankees and his teammate Lou Gehrig began his streak on the same team only 26 days later!
3) The man who hit Pipp in the head during batting practice was rookie hurler Charley Caldwell, the same man who appeared in three games with the Yankees and then left baseball after a demotion to the minor leagues and turned his attention to football. As Princeton’s football coach from 1945-1956, Caldwell’s 9-2 record against Rutgers is the most wins by any Tiger coach against the Scarlet. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...ehrig-plays-2nd-straight-game-to-start-streak
1) 1B Wally Pipp got hurt and Gehrig never surrendered the position again. Not true! Yanks were 10 games under .500 and manager Miller Huggins decided to let Gehrig play a little. He then played a lot. Pipp actually did get hurt on July 2 but that wasn't the real reason Gehrig got to start his record.
2) Gehrig broke the streak held by Everett Scott who started his record with the Boston Red Sox on June 20, 1916 and ended it on May 5, 1925 at 1,307 consecutive games. By that time he was the New York Yankees shortstop! Scott's streak stopped on the Yankees and his teammate Lou Gehrig began his streak on the same team only 26 days later!
3) The man who hit Pipp in the head during batting practice was rookie hurler Charley Caldwell, the same man who appeared in three games with the Yankees and then left baseball after a demotion to the minor leagues and turned his attention to football. As Princeton’s football coach from 1945-1956, Caldwell’s 9-2 record against Rutgers is the most wins by any Tiger coach against the Scarlet. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...ehrig-plays-2nd-straight-game-to-start-streak
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