Lou Gehrig is perhaps the most famous player to ever have played the great sport of baseball, and on July 4, 1939 he delivered the single greatest speech in baseballs history. Gehrig's speech was great because of his exceptional use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Gehrig played a long decorated career. He was the Yankees first baseman from 1923 to 1939. He had a lifetime batting average of .340 and he even won the most prestigious hitting title in baseball, the triple crown award. Gehrig was in the starting lineup for every single game during a 15 year stretch. The most consecutive game record reached a grand total of 2,330 games in a row. Then, Gehrig realized he could no longer react to the ball like he used to and decided that his final major …show more content…
The Yankees have a cult like following and people either love them or hate them. The Yankees have a habit of getting players young and making them the face of the franchise and future stars. The most recent being the great Derek Jeter. Gehrig was this type of star in the 1920s and 30s. In the first part of Gehrig’s speech he gives all the credit in the world to the Yankees organization. He loved the Yankees almost as much as the Yankees loved him. He calls out specific players and coaches in his speech. Their names have been cemented in the history go baseball because of Gehrig's speech. Gehrig spent a large part of his career with these men, and he owes his own personal success to these men. These are mainly emotional appeals, and fall into the category of pathos. The Yankees organization became a second family for Gehrig, and his kind words about the organization shows his appreciation. This display of appreciation went over very well with the Yankees because they ended up retiring his number before the conclusion of the season. The Yankees have only retired 12 numbers since the beginning of the organization. Gehrig wa shown the ultimate sign of respect from his