MVP Profile: Lou Gehrig, 1936

First Baseman, New York Yankees

Age:  33 (June 19)

12^th season with Yankees

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 200 

Prior to 1936:

A New York City native, Gehrig played sandlot baseball as a youth, and starred at Commerce High School before receiving a scholarship to attend Columbia University. His college baseball career was interrupted by being suspended for a year due to playing under an assumed name for the Hartford Senators of the Class A Eastern League in 1921 following a failed tryout with the major league Giants. Despite that setback he performed brilliantly when he took the field for Columbia, both as a hitter and as a pitcher. Gehrig signed with the Yankees in 1923 but following a brief trial with the Yankees he was sent to the minors, where he was once again with Hartford, minus any subterfuge. In 59 games with Hartford, the 20-year-old Gehrig batted .304 with 24 home runs. Returning to the Yankees late in the season, he hit impressively in six games. With no spot available for him in the lineup in 1924, Gehrig was again sent to Hartford and batted .369 with 40 doubles, 13 triples, and 37 home runs. He had another brief September appearance with the Yankees and he stuck with the Yanks in 1925 as a reserve first baseman. With the club mired in seventh place and regular first baseman Wally Pipp hitting poorly (the reality as opposed to mythology that later developed as to how Gehrig came to replace Pipp), manager Miller Huggins inserted Gehrig in the lineup and he went on to hit .295 for the year with 23 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs, and 68 RBIs. Gehrig continued to develop in 1926 as the Yankees returned to the top in the American League, batting .313 with a league-leading 20 triples, along with 47 doubles, 16 home runs, and 109 RBIs. He also hit .348 in the seven-game World Series loss to the Cardinals. He finished tenth in AL MVP voting, tied with teammate Tony Lazzeri. In 1927 Gehrig was the cleanup hitter in the legendary “Murderers Row” lineup that propelled the Yankees to a 110-44 record atop the AL and a World Series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gehrig hit .373 and led the league with 52 doubles, 173 RBIs, and 447 total bases. His 47 home runs ranked second to teammate Babe Ruth’s then-record 60 and he further contributed 18 triples, a .474 on-base percentage, a .765 slugging percentage, and drew 109 walks on his way to receiving AL MVP recognition. In the World Series whitewash of the Pirates, he hit .308 with 4 RBIs. In the offseason, Gehrig and Babe Ruth partnered in a barnstorming tour in which they captained teams of local all-stars named the “Bustin’ Babes” and the “Larrupin’ Lous” that proved lucrative for both players. Gehrig also signed a three-year contract extension with the Yankees for $25,000 per year. New York again won the AL pennant in 1928 and Gehrig contributed a .374 batting average along with a league-leading 47 doubles (tied with Heinie Manush of the Browns) and 147 RBIs, along with 13 triples and 27 home runs. In the ensuing four-game World Series sweep of the Cardinals, he batted .545 with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs. Another strong season for Gehrig followed in 1929, this despite playing with a broken finger and bone chips in his left elbow, both of which required off-season surgery, as well as the death of manager Miller Huggins. He once more appeared in every game and hit .300 with 35 home runs and 125 RBIs. Gehrig led the league in RBIs in both 1930 (173) and ‘31 (185). His 46 home runs also topped the AL in 1931. Despite his league-leading numbers in 1931, he took a $2000 pay cut due to effects of the Great Depression on Yankee finances. Gehrig hit 34 home runs in 1932, including a record-tying four in one game against the Athletics, and drove in 151 RBIs while batting .349. The Yankees returned to the top of the AL standings for the first time since 1928, and Gehrig had another outstanding World Series performance in the sweep of the Cubs. He finished second in league MVP voting. Gehrig reached a milestone in 1933 as he appeared in a record 1308^th consecutive game, setting a major league record at the time. He also appeared in the first All-Star Game, where he started at first base for the American League. He finished the season with 41 doubles, 12 triples, 32 home runs, 140 RBIs, and a .334 batting average, and placed fourth in MVP balloting. 1934 marked the last season in which Gehrig and Babe Ruth were teammates, and while Ruth was fading, Gehrig won the AL Triple Crown with 49 home runs, 166 RBIs, and a .363 average. He was an All-Star once again and placed fifth in league MVP voting. With the second-place Yankees in 1935 Gehrig led the league in runs scored (125), walks drawn (132), and on base percentage (.466) while batting .329 with 30 home runs and 120 RBIs. He finished fifth in MVP voting again.

1936 Season Summary

Appeared in 155 games

1B – 155

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 719 [4]

At Bats – 579

Runs – 167 [1]

Hits – 205 [7]

Doubles – 37 [16, tied with Jack Burns]

Triples – 7

Home Runs – 49 [1]

RBI – 152 [2]

Bases on Balls – 130 [1]

Int. BB – 9 [4, tied with Zeke Bonura]

Strikeouts – 46 [20, tied with Mike Kreevich, Jack Burns & Buddy Lewis]

Stolen Bases – 3

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .354 [3, tied with Charlie Gehringer]

OBP - .478 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .696 [1]

Total Bases – 403 [2]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 7 [4, tied with Harlond Clift & Marv Owen]

Sac Hits – 3

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading runs scored were +22 ahead of runner-up Harlond Clift

League-leading home runs were +7 ahead of runner-up Hal Trosky

League-leading bases on balls drawn were +13 ahead of runner-up Lyn Lary

League-leading OBP was +.004 ahead of runner-up Luke Appling

League-leading slugging pct. was +.052 ahead of runner-up Hal Trosky

League-leading total bases were +30 ahead of runner-up Babe Ruth

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 22, HR – 20, RBI – 61, AVG – .389, SLG – .708, OBP – .494

---

Most hits, game – 4 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 18 games

HR at home – 27

HR on road – 22

/Most home runs, game – 2 on five occasions

Multi-HR games – 5

Most RBIs, game – 7 at Cleveland 9/9

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 1468

Put Outs – 1377

Assists – 82

Errors – 9

DP – 128

Pct. - .994

Postseason Batting: 6 G (World Series vs. NY Giants)

PA – 28, AB – 24, R – 5, H – 7, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 7, BB – 3, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – 1, AVG - .292, OBP - .393, SLG - .583, TB – 14, GDP – N/A, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – N/A

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (Started for AL at 1B) 

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Lou Gehrig, NYY: 73 points – 4 of 8 first place votes, 91% share

Luke Appling, ChiWS.: 65 points – 3 first place votes, 81% share

Earl Averill, Clev.: 48 points – 1 first place vote, 60% share

Charlie Gehringer, Det.: 39 points – 49% share

Bill Dickey, NYY: 29 points – 36% share

---

The Yankees went 102-51 to win the AL pennant by 19.5 games over the Detroit Tigers while leading the league in runs scored (1065), home runs (182), RBIs (997), walks drawn (700), OBP (.381), slugging (.483), and total bases (2703). With a strong lineup anchored by Gehrig and bolstered by the addition of rookie CF Joe DiMaggio, the Yankees were 17-7 at the point they took over first place to stay on May 10. Won World Series over the New York Giants, 4 games to 2, with Gehrig’s two-run home run off ace LHP Carl Hubbell in Game 4 putting the Yankees in command.

Aftermath of 1936:

The Yankees repeated as champs in 1937 and the classy, dignified, and highly-respected team captain contributed 37 home runs, 158 RBIs, and a .351 average and ranked fourth in league MVP balloting. “The Iron Horse” dealt with nagging injuries and a prolongued slump in 1938 and ended up hitting .295 with 29 home runs and 114 RBIs. By spring training of 1939 it was apparent that Gehrig was seriously off his game, both at the plate and in the field. After getting off to a poor start during the season, he opted to sit out and end his consecutive game streak at 2130 games. He did not return to the lineup and announced his retirement in June, after he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) an incurable neuromuscular disease. The Yankees honored him with a sendoff between games of a July 4 doubleheader in which he delivered a memorable address to the crowd. He died two years later at age 37 from the malady that would forever after be referred to as “Lou Gehrig disease”. For his major league career, spent entirely with the Yankees, he batted .340 with 2721 hits that included 534 doubles, 163 triples, and 493 home runs. He further scored 1888 runs, and compiled 1995 RBIs, a .447 OBP, and a .632 slugging percentage. In addition to the 2130-game streak, which remained the major league record until surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995, Gehrig also retired as the career leader in grand slams with 23, a record which lasted until 2013. He finished with 150 or more RBIs in seven seasons. Gehrig was a seven-time All-Star, including 1939 when he was a non-playing reserve and AL team captain. Appearing in 34 World Series games, he hit .361 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. He was a two-time league MVP who finished in the top ten on nine occasions. The Yankees retired his #4 and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by special election in 1939. The team further honored him with a monument in center field at Yankee Stadium. A biographical movie, The Pride of the Yankees in which Gehrig was portrayed by actor Gary Cooper, was released in 1942.

---

MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.