Climax tonight starring Wendell Cory Gene Hagan Harry Carey Junior James Gregory Harry Town and

now your host for Chrysler Corporation Bill Lundergan You know this week after a winter's hibernation the

baseball parks of America have suddenly come to life again Flagstaffs wear bright new bunting turnstiles click men

in blue shout play ball Prominent citizens from mayors to the president throw out the

first ball and from packed bleachers comes a mighty roar that won't be sealed until autumn

Many loyal baseball fans will remember a beloved figure who not many seasons passed was an important part of this

scene A man whose moving personal story of love courage and heartbreak was as stirring as his greatest triumphs

on the diamond Tonight On climax the Lou Gehrig story a new dramatic picture of the Iron Horse

himself written especially for climax by Mel Goldberg This is granted Rice talking to you from the press

box at the New York Yankee Stadium where in just a little while the ceremonies

honoring Lou Gehrig will get underway I've been asked to tell you as briefly as I

can a little bit about the man Lou Gehry and why upwards of 60,000 fans and countless celebrities from all

walks of life are here today to pay a final trip to the Iron Horse of

baseball Today at the age of 36 Lou is a very sick man perhaps a dying

man But let's turn away for a brief moment from the shattered iron horse we see here today

for a brief look at the Garrick you and I and especially Lou would want you

to remember 1927 second full season as the Yankees a batter marked for greatness at

the beginning a clumsy fielder he worked at he learned they never call him clumsy again He gave it

all he had at the plate and on the faces in his time for all time one of

the most fearsome sluggers in baseball history and now he became known as the Iron

Horse season after season game after game defying sickness pain and injuries among baseball fans

everywhere The fable garret the beloved Gary the indestructible Gary It was just a relatively unimportant early season ball game

But for the game was to be a crucial there's two down at the top of the ninth The base

is jammed with the white sox and the base hit now could win it all So

the Yankees are in serious trouble They are all games in jeopardy There's a sign

there's a stretch pitch It's a bouncing ball down the first baseline Gary is up No it's bay

him It's in the right field for a base hit He couldn't come up with a

ball Some tough rate folks It was a sharply hit ball Let's say that lou just missed making

a nice play You can't a guy like that take it slow He lost me a

ball game What do you mean Take it slow I'm not gonna bench the guy I mean

it for the good of the team he ought to get benched He's through You think he'd

bench himself for crying out loud He's played in over 2000 games in a row What are we supposed to

do Eat that record of his if it costs a pennant this year I mean we got

to think of ourselves too You know you talk awful loud for a little guy Rusty Anybody wants

to hear what I gotta say Dickie I'll say it right to his face and that includes

the great geri No I swung on before for telling the truth for telling the truth Rusty He lost me

a ballgame this afternoon We lost the ball game this afternoon We meaning the Yankees it

was my ball game to win a lousy crown ball How many ball games did you win last year Rusty

I was in a bullpen half the season Yeah But you took your share of the

World Series though that lou helped to win didn't you Look I ain't saying he wasn't a great ballplayer

All I'm saying is he ain't helping the team now I booted one for you kid I'm sorry Look

look look I ain't I ain't griping about losing the ball Don't you just button

her Why They just button her left I think right Think about done Miss Gary Tell the master

all I do be throwing something at me Don't I think that's dizzy Dean on

the I know I've seen this film over 20 times and he hasn't stressed you out yet There

it goes all the way Hey come on in here Come on He hurried up Will you Now

you two Maggie shut the door May have my mistake just close the door will you That's dizzy

Dean on the mound for the national golf stars He's getting ready to blow that fast one past the

mighty Gary I watch the street honey there are goal line drive that they go all

the way Well well it seems to me you were stepping into the ball That's right I was But now

I'm so anxious as hit I'm crowding that plate and they're throwing them in close I don't have to

look at that film we've been taking this week I know that's it I'm crowding

it That could be I know what it is Look I'll show you I mean here's a

plate I got there and I just keep inching in and I'm inching in and they

throw me in a close when I pop it up But if I'll get back here

dig in and stay here that same inside pitch Right on the fat of the bat Look

honey I'll share the stuff we took to sleep Uh look Maggie You don't have

to hang around We'll be at least an hour Oh I don't mind Oh come on you're

not off get going Ok Well I got a couple of tickets to the opera Are you

interested Aren't you Uh I don't think so No Ok Listen Derek he's been looking at those films for over

a week now What's he trying to find the guy who hit the home run off Dizzy Dean Well

dinner will be ready in two shakes Everything has to be playing all the time Put it on

for you I thought you liked it I do Who wants to live in Carnegie Hall You know maybe

I should have married Toscanini I could have you know he's been after me for years But I

look at the guy and I ask myself how many homers did he hit last

year Oh look who's laughing the way I'm hitting I could be using the baton No no

I don't believe it The dower Dutchman finally got off a good one You know I think I did

it called Randy Rice Maybe he could use it in this column tomorrow Where the heck was

that We'll sell it to Jack Benny Oh you are us Nick You and Derek Elliot It should be over

If I if I just can't hit anymore I can't play ball anymore Ellie I I

swear to you'll make life good for you I mean Ellie I'll I'll learn to do something else I have

wonderful times together So you won't be bored with me You big stupid Dutchman You shut up You hear

me don't you Little little the first time I met you six years ago and that's when I started

living Don't you know that I I mean you're it you're the works don't you

know that you haven't got anything to do with your batting average or music or

anything like that You got that straight I say look me in the eye and

say it I love you Ellie You think he's a smiling Irishman though You might say it of smiling Irishman

loves the dow Dutchman Don't you ever forget that car I think the steak's burning Thought I told

you to shut up I got a right to sing that I got a right to I to hang

around down the river Uh Certainly in this little town is my I know I've got

the right to sing the blues I got opera tickets Is it I'll give you opera tickets any

time at all I like it So did Charlie Charlie What happened to Sam That for Sam that Carer is

a crazy gal isn't she You might say that Oh that's hot You might say that I give

them that a yell What is that coffee time How you feeling You know the first time since the

season opened he slept the night through Did he find out what he was doing wrong from those

pictures Well he thinks he may have been crowding the plate but you don't think so

Do you Everybody on the team from Mac on down has been studying his batting

for him He's not doing anything different from the way he ever did it And he it's one

and it's an easy fly ball This is Gehrig He's 36 years old and he's been

playing ball day in and day out for 14 years over 2000 games and he never missed a one I'll

give you one guess Opus 7-Eleven Duke Ellington Ellington We're gonna have to get rid of her She's

got culture four or five making a half a dozen throw in some bacon too You talk me

into it Be about your business girl I got a train to catch Good morning Eleanor Twit Geri Good

morning Henry Lewis Gary And who do you love this morning The Dow Dutchman Who does the Dour Dutchman Love

the smiling Irishman I married the genius See if these will hold you Yeah Not for

long I'm gonna snap out of it I've got a feeling you know I always did hit good

in Detroit You just forget about the Homers You're here Just swing to meet the ball and

the base hits will start falling in there That's exactly what I'm going to do You know I've got

it all doped out I was thinking about it while I was shaving I've been getting in

my head that I'm weak So I stand up there and I swing real hard I

swing too hard No more balance up there I really think that's what it is What do

you think Ellie I think I love you Oh not no really Ellie I I mean

I really got to figure it out I've been going around moping like the world is coming to an

end I'm in a batting slump I've had it before and I've got out of them and I'll get

out of this one too Gary the coffee Let me get some butter You got some

SAB in the medicine check Ellie I didn't even feel it They bring it to the bone

I didn't feel it Ellie I better get started at a train to catch Oh no Ellie

I'm not going to see a doctor now We've been over that a dozen times There's

nothing wrong with me Ellie There's nothing wrong with a few base hits won't cure I'm a

little tired and I'm I'm nervous and I'm in a I'm in a swamp That's that's all it is

Ellie I'm I'm just in a swamp Oh all this commotion about it We spill coffee

batting slumps a couple of good days I'll be hitting them so that they make me use one of those

batons I won't kill somebody Right Not quite half the game bets a dime I got three hits Hello

Get me Mr Dickie's room please Bill Ellenor Look no no Lou just left Look look Bill there's

something wrong with the guy Just something very wrong You just keep your eye on him You see

and if anything happens you I don't know like what he seems to be losing

his strength he he burned himself and he didn't feel anything You get him to see a doctor and you

make him see a doctor because I'm I'm afraid taste it Rosetti on third DiMaio on first and the geri

special right now will put the Yankees one run to the good here in the top of

the ninth who's had a rough day so far been a slow start for the

big guy The last right now would make up for a lot of that as they stretch the pitch

and it's a fly ball right field and it just didn't have enough So that snuffs out the rally

and wins it 3 to 1 all the Bengals three runs on eight hits and one and all the

Yankees one run on six hits and one another tough loss for the Bronze Bombers An especially

rough one for Lou Gehrig who just can't seem to get started this season Just one of

those tough breaks the guy's got lots of power You hit the ball again You

can't see now as he he's lost his power What more proof does a guy need for Pete's

sake Hold it down We hit that one right on the nose If I hit a ball

that hard it would sail right out of the park So for him it's a can of

corn for the right fielder I tell you the guy's lost his power I hit about

five like that last year They get up on that wind and die This ballpark's real rough

for that Luke I mean it lou the wind blowing the other way you'd have dropped in there

for a base hit easy See even the weather's against me Hey Bill you're in

a slump Lou everything goes wrong when you're in a slump You know that the

man's had it He's done Caput Hey Luke go Let me pick that movie night When didn't anybody else

Mac would have had him on the bench a long time ago He keeps on his way We'll be

fighting to keep out of the cellar right Bill My hurting team You're in a swamp That's

not the question Bill Bill He doesn't answer those questions Lo Billy's got enough to do behind the plate

without worrying about the other guys cover positions on this team and that goes double

in spades for every man on this ball club Now if there's anybody here who feels I'm being overworked thinks

maybe I need a little help manage in this team Let's see But before he starts

shooting off his mouth he better be pretty dog on shore He's batting over 400 or if

he's a pitcher he's pitching nothing but shutouts Now the floor is open to suggestions

Look I've told you every day since this slump started that you're my first baseman If you don't feel you

can handle the job you come and tell me I didn't see your question I uh little extra workout

tomorrow Ma you get somebody to throw it Mike's got no call to eat me out just because

the guy tries to tell the truth Why don't you grow up a little son Don't you

think Mike knows the truth Don't you think we know it Don't you think Lou knows it

too If he knows he's finished Then why doesn't he bench himself when you've played for

Ask me that question Then if you have to I'm an Oklahoma away and I love

my Os more than I can say hey you lose you better get a move on I

don't want to miss a single shooting Kind of beat Bill or nothing like a good old double feature

for what he you take a take a rain check bill Oh now look I'm treating and when Dickie treats

cut it out As a matter of fact I crippled or something I just kidding The lo I've done

that You've done it back if heck I wouldn't want to count the number of times I'm

gonna belt me one right here Bill Nope I'm on a good swift kick for

you I just want you to go to the movies with me That's all you know I'm

scared of the dark I'll be with you in 30 seconds Lou if you just want to

sit around maybe read or something I thought you were treating Vicky Yeah Hello New York

Calling Mr William Nicky speaking I've got your party in New York Go ahead Bill Eleanor Look I don't

want Lou to know that it's me Is he there Uh Yeah Yes Dave It's

good hearing from me Bill I have Dr Graham here with me now and I told him

Lou's symptoms until he thinks it's very very important that Lou have a complete checkup and right away

Well what can I do How stubborn he is He won't listen to me But

I thought if you talked to him Bill you might get him to show Not like that again Do

you hear me now Do you hear me Ellie Yes I hear you I feel so bad I

need a check up I'll be the first one to know it No this is Dr Graham No you're acting

like a child All we want you to do is take a few days off fly up

to Minnesota and then I take a few days off What's the matter with everybody What do you think

I was We haven't got an open day on the schedule for I'm in a slump That's

all look great wouldn't it In 14 years I quit cold just because there's nothing wrong with me Doc

Well I'm I'm not gonna take any day off and I'll get that straight Tell

Ellie to get that straight too Nothing wrong with me That a good dead bad wouldn't cure I

guess that's the story that looks crazy for me Who can like Jared boy Not there an

hour Now how's he doing Come on let him take his swings in peace Listen I want to see him

do good just like everybody else Yeah you've been beat Come on come on come on Let's not

act like a Tory Well now you're hitting them Lou Slow and easy Thanks Ok I guess

that's awesome Keep that ball up Will you Hank I seven But right that's the line I'll

be working on man That's the lineup I can't make it man I just can't make it Lou Gehrig Iron

Horse of baseball the rock of the Yankee in field one of the great sluggers of all time

and beyond the most durable athlete in the history of sport Yesterday benched himself after a

fabulous 14 years Tragic Very much played in 2130 consecutive ball games a record which

has not and will not be threatened Although the Yankee management Garrick himself claims that the

benching is a temporary measure Those of us who have watched lose better performance this season You

may be the end of the line Fabled Iron Horse Send in Mr Garg Hello you right Yeah Oh

well that won't be necessary today Lou after five days here every time I see a doctor I just

automatically start stripping sit down I take it it won't break your heart to leave us Is that

right You you are But yeah that's all over and done with Now what's the final score Well you

might say we're at bat at the end of nine innings we're all tied up after five days of test

No let's see how I can put this to you You can put it to me straight down

Yes Lou I believe I can Well when I said we are tied at the end

of nine that sounds like a poor analogy That's really not too far from the truth What

I'm trying to say Lou is a game that's tied Can go on 10 15 20 innings It depends on

so many factors that these uh extra innings You figure one inning for one year you

could look at it that way Do you look at it that way And after say 15

innings is there a chance of winning or do we just play it out as long as it goes But

in the end we have to lose Well not necessarily you know I could die of heart

failure tomorrow Doctors tell this other thing is it going to kill me We'll be able to tell you more

about that low in time after we watch it progress It's a rare type of paralysis but somebody like

you with your body your will is anyone who's had this thing Has anyone else ever beaten it

Well has anybody else ever played 14 full seasons of baseball without missing a single

game It was funny There have to be about 8000 questions we're asking I guess so Well there's no

hurry though You'll be hanging around for a couple of days You have to tell Mark and Ed Barrow

how am I going to tell Ellie Oh I know she's been making a nuisance

to herself like she's Irish you know and well she's got that temper and when she wants something she wants

it pretty bad So when she calls you again and starts pumping you I we just tell her

I've got a fighting chance We did not I just type this on an official form and send it

to the Yankee office in New York Mr Edward Barrow after a complete and careful examination June

type of illness which involves the motor pathways and cells of the nervous system Thanks Doctor

Adam's office Doctor It's Mrs Gary Mrs Gary Doctor I know I said I wouldn't call it

till five Well that's quite all right I have the reports here in front of me I was

just dictating a release for the newspapers which would define the nature of your husband's

illness It it's bad isn't it It's quite serious I want to know doctor Well that's difficult

to say Mr as I was telling your husband I told you not to tell

Loewy I told Lou that he had a fighting chance Sorry Thank thank you doctor Thank

you for telling him that And now please tell me the truth I've never had the privilege of meeting

you Mr Garri but I think you can take this I think it's something that you must know

Mrs Gehrig I'm still with you doctor Well your husband is suffering from a disease which we hope one

day we'll be able to cure However at the present time we know very little

about it Mrs Gary How long Well that's hard to say but with his body the shape he's in Why

is there anything I can do Try to keep his mind occupied and try to keep him happy Thank

you doctor And now if you excuse me I think I better hang up we're gonna keep him

happy You hear me Maggie we're going to have parties and we're going to have people we can have so

many people will have to put a revolving door on the joint We're gonna keep them happy You

understand I swear in that eighth inning yesterday I thought old biscuit fans here grab

himself of that and put himself in the pinch head kid Yourself What I thought about it

I never forget the time we play an exhibition game in Norfolk Virginia You know this rookie kid was pitching

for them I'm a big tall lanky drink of water type laddy What kind of reminded

me of Billy Dickie here in a thanks Maggie Oh just great Just great Just fine Anyway about

the first three innings you know the boys are going up there they're hitting the

dirt every time this kid winds up by the time the fifth inning rolls around everybody's down on

their knees playing to get out of the ballgame alive I mean they're walking up there and

they're not digging in standing about 6 ft away from the plate which is what

is the worst thing in the world they could do You know because the way

this kid's chucking them in the safest place in that ballpark was right in the middle of

the plate I mean he's not even coming close to it you know except old fearless

here Oh he's digging in there like this kid knows where the ball is going and twice in a

row lose on his pants and this kid is scared green He keeps yelling in I'm sorry

Mr Gary Gosh almighty I'm sorry Lou sort of dusts himself off and he weighs back and

he says well that's all right son It's all in a day's work And then p I thought

somebody had been shot Lou hits the dirt This kid throws his arms up in the

air and he starts screaming I kill Lou Gary I kill him I'm halfway out of

the dugout with a bat in my hands I don't know whether to carry Lou off or

belt that kid one And here's old Lou he's just sort of dusting himself off and

picking himself up off the ground and he's shaking his head at that kid And he's saying you

better watch that fastball son Your love to hurt someone Yeah I remember it It turned out to

be a pretty fast country style pitch He was Mac Remember in Chicago when we were there Well that's

another story Another time He I'm sorry to break up the festivities but we've got a little thing called a

ball game Wait a minute Where are you That's what we get for bringing the

manager along with was a wonderful party Thanks for having the guys over Well I had

a great time and you know that uh another business I was talking to you about get it

around a little with Ellie Will you let me know how you feel Oh I know I don't think

so Fine I'll kick it around whatever way you decide is all right with me Just

let me know I'll talk to you tomorrow I go to the park Thanks Well thanks for the use

of the hall Was it fun I love them one and all I all I

I'd like to see a little less of them A little more of my wife Maggie

Why don't you just leave that stuff till the morning All right ma why you sit right down

here and hold your hands in your lap I'm gonna sit over here where I can see you fire

when ready Gridley Well Ellie I know exactly how to say Like I just want

to talk that Well I don't know that yet but Ellie when I first heard about this thing

I I was scared Silly There's no reason to be I mean the doctors all say you

might have I said I was scared So I began to realize that no matter what the

book said about this disease even if I well even if the odds are against us never beating it it

wouldn't scare me but it doesn't scare me as long as it doesn't scare you Do

I look scared darling Well I'm not I'm not because the simple truth of the matter is that I

know you can beat this thing I know it So I wish you'd stop thinking about exercise and say I

don't think about not beating you know as a matter of fact it doesn't really seem very important as long

as we live our lives together just the way we always have Oh with a few

changes of course Oh I know I can't play ball anymore Well I can adjust to that

but I don't like to have to look across crowded room to find my wife We don't need

parties Ellie to shut out the truth The truth can't hurt us Hon Not as long as we're

together No more parties No Ellie I don't mean no more parties What do you want me to

do Oh honey I want you to stop asking me what I want to do I want you

to tell me what you want to do and I I want you to argue with

me and I want you to tell me I'm a big stupid Dutchman when I'm wrong

Anything else dictating Well Mac and Ed Barham well Granny and some of the boys at the press they

don't have a day for me Yes I know What do you think I think Well I think if

if I say yes you'll brood about it and then you'll sit up all night trying to write a speech

and you won't be able to think of anything to say and then you'll blame me for getting into

the mess and then he'll decide it was all a giant plot to embarrass you

because you think you really don't raid the date because nobody cares that much about you In other words

you think I ought to let them do it I think you better let him do it First

game of today's traditional Fourth of July double header has just ended Ladies and gentlemen and the Yankees lost

it to the Senators 3 to 2 There are upwards of 60,000 fans jamming this ballpark and most

of them viewed the first game with the same apathy that the Yankees played it

for the first time In this broadcaster's memory The games themselves are taking a back seat

to the between game ceremony A tribute to Lou Gehry Now before the ceremonies begin I'd like

to chat with one of Lou's friends sitting here beside me is Grant and rise The Dean

of American Sports Actors I don't get you an argument any day in the week But

about this crowd here today Granny it's very impressive very very rough on Lou I'm afraid I've seen the big

guy skull by a fast ball that would decapitate ox dust himself off and dig in But this standing before

a crowd and making a speech This is murder Did you help him with his

speech No sir I did not I've heard Lou speak in public half a dozen times He

usually manages a pretty fair job This is different Everything is different This isn't the rock

of Gibraltar in baseball pants This is just a sick man a very sick man He knows that today for

the very first time he's being honored not for being a great ball player but for

being Lou Gehry he could accept honors as a baller He knows that he's earned that

But for a guy like Lou who can't understand being anything else other than a good human being he can't

honestly see what he's done to deserve this And so he might not say any

more than thank you But if he says it in his own way it would be a better speech than

I could write for him if I had 10 figures in each hand somebody downstairs says Gary doesn't want Billy

Billy The corridor is knee deep in reporters they want in or they'll have to wait for Mac What

happened Bill It beats me He was sitting here in front of his locker just

sort of staring off in the space and then he got up and went to Mac's office I asked

him what was wrong He said can't do it Bill You just can't do it

big boys Ok And so today after 14 years during which lou rewrote page after page

in a baseball record book we're here to give him his name Let's make it

a good thank you Michael Rice and Granny don't go away Well the area around home

plate is literally swimming with gifts tributes I won't even attempt to describe them to

you Now Nor do I try to name all the famous faces that are here Yeah there in a group

is one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled The 1927 Yankees You just saw Babe Ruth Bob

Usual Here's Wade Hoyt Herb Pennock Well let's leave it at this There isn't a name in

baseball past or present who isn't here today to pay tribute to Lou Gehry the big Bambino again Sultan of

Swat many other dignitaries some 60,000 of them That's Joe mccarthy making the presentation some time ago

Told me that that you are the chances of the ball club by staying in

the ball That was the day that I see because I never thought that I would that is the time

will come when you and I well we're not going All right They say see I've had a

bad wife Frank But when the Albany our source and the ground keepers and even a

giant giants from across the river where we give our right arm be be in

a World Series Series when they were in the field That's something that something And when you have a

you have a wonderful wife wife who would show a short church that I ever had That's really great great

And when you've spent six years with a great little jar like Huggins Huggins and the next night with

the smartest manager in baseball day hey Joe mccarthy And when you have when you roll me he he playing

card card and all you one of the greatest brothers whoever they live Bill Dickie with all

this list I consider myself the luckiest man man on the face of the earth the earth I may

have I may have been given a bad break but I've got a lot to live to live

Thank you Yeah Yeah Gilmore speaking portions of this program were prerecorded