New York Yankees skipper Aaron Boone wore an “End ALS 4 Lou” shirt. Aaron Judge had a pair of cleats that featured the famed Yankee on them.
The tributes were part of a celebration of Gehrig across Major League Baseball and a way to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease forced Gehrig to retire from the game of baseball at 36 and he died two years later from it.
It is now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Just a greater awareness. I think it was Lou Gehrig 81 years ago maybe and still, this awful disease not a lot has changed on it,” Boone said before the Yankees hosted the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. “And you know it’s a very cruel disease. Obviously, Lou Gehrig is one of the greatest players of all time, but obviously synonymous with this disease. The fact that our sport has taken this on and hopefully become the face of it.”
MLB celebrated Lou Gerhig Day for the second consecutive year with festivities planned across the league. Home ball clubs displayed “4-ALS” logos inside their ballparks and special Lou Gehrig Day patches were on all jerseys.
Gehrig passed away on June 2, 1941.
Aaron Judge's cleats for Lou Gehrig Day 🔥
(via @LuciaFootwearCo) pic.twitter.com/S6hqPc7PVu
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 2, 2022
Judge’s specially designed cleats featured an image of Gehrig along with a portion of his famous “luckiest man” speech he delivered at Yankee Stadium in 1939. Boone hopes all the attention will help continue the fight against ALS.
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“Hopefully just raising awareness to it that we make some progress on bettering the life of people that ultimately get this horrendous disease,” Boone said.”I’m proud that baseball has taken that initiative and putting a face on this.”
The Yankees were also scheduled to host people during the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader who have suffered from the disease, along with families and friends that have been impacted by ALS.
