Rose Minani

2/13/2021

English 2010

“Farewell to Baseball Address”

The author of “Farewell to baseball address” is Lou Gehrig. He was born in New York in 1903

and signed his first contract for the New York Yankees in April 1923. Two interesting facts about

him were that he was the first Major League Baseball player to have his number retired by a

team and he was the first baseman who played 17 seasons in the major league baseball for the

New York Yankees. He was diagnosed with ALS, a nervous system disease that weakens

muscles and impacts physical functions. This disease can’t be cured but treatments and physical

therapy can help. His condition, later on, got worse, he was forced to retire due to his diagnoses

and later on passed away in June,2,1941. He died at 37 years old, he lived for 3 years after he

was diagnosed. Now going into his speech that was delivered on July 4, 1939, at the New York,

Yankee Stadium; This is where the Yankees met the Washington Senators in a doubleheader. The

tone of the speech is optimistic and positive. Words that stood out to me that match the tone is:

I’m lucky, kind, and encouraging. These words all have a positive cheerful vibe. “I have been in

ballparks for seventeen years now and have never received anything but kindness and

encouragement from you fans.” He started with this quote using the appeal of Ethos to show the

audience his credibility and that he is someone that can be trusted with topics related to baseball

since he’s been playing for years. The words honor, blessing, and wonderful are words that he

used to describe his emotions. Lou used the appeal pathos by arousing emotions of melancholy

and sympathy among his audience when talking about his ALS disease. “When you have a father
and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body -- it’s a

blessing.”

When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you

dreamed existed -- that’s the finest I know.” These two quotes awaken emotions of kinship,

companionship, and fellowship among his audience. Hearing about his family and how much

they support him, feels like I can relate to him and it says a lot about what kind of person Lou

Gehrig is. His family is his support system and he wants the audience to know that he couldn’t

have achieved everything that he did without them. He uses the appeal logos to explain why he

feels he’s the luckiest man on earth and talks about how grateful he is for his fans treating him

well and how blessed he is to have known his coaches, teammates, and family members. This

speech was written because he wanted to say his final goodbye to a big part of his life. He had

been on the baseball team for most of his life. It was something that he was passionate about and

had to let go of it. He was letting everyone know how grateful he was for everyone that was a

part of his journey and how great his baseball career had been. He said, “ I’ve got a lot to live

for.” He wanted the audience to understand that he had nothing to be mad about because his life

had been so great. To show his illustrious life and career are not to be overshadowed by the

recent events. To show the audience all the great accomplishments that overshadow this minor

setback. He had done what he wanted to do because of hard work, and because of the way other

people had helped him. The overall message is to be grateful or thankful for what you have. Lou

Gehrig's farewell speech inspired me a lot. He was going through a hard time but stayed positive

all time. He didn’t want anyone to feel bad for him but to cherish the time that he had. He seems

like a very strong, brave, and amazing person. The intended audience of his speech were his fans,
the players, and coaches around the league. I think it’s because these were the people that were

there from the beginning cheering him on the whole way.