Is Derek Jeter is about to replace Lou Gehrig as the Yankees’ career hits leader. Jeter, predictably, is trying not to make too much of it.
First of all, Gehrig would have appreciated Jeter’s shout-out to his mom and pop. A world-class mama’s boy, Gehrig leapt at every opportunity to thank his parents.
Gehrig would also have understood Jeter’s reluctance to boast of his individual accomplishments. But like most professional athletes, Gehrig was a fierce competitor and understood that statistics were a reliable measure of his performance. In other words, he cared. A lot. As does Jeter, clearly.Gehrig displayed little emotion. He never seemed satisfied with his success
Which helps explain why he performed so brilliantly for such a long time — until amyotrophic lateral sclerosis struck him at age 35, clipping short his career and then his life. While Gehrig was a sweetheart off the field, he was merciless between the chalk lines. More than any other player in the team’s history, he set the standard for what it meant — and means — to be a Yankee.
He was not universally beloved. Some reporters found him dull. Children in the Bronx complained that he would sneak in and out of Yankee Stadium to avoid signing autographs. He almost never picked up a dinner tab or tipped a delivery boy. Even some of his teammates thought he could have been friendlier. But in most of the important ways, Gehrig was a class act. He never gloated. Never complained. Never criticized his teammates or managers. Never quit hustling.
Newspaper reporters were left with nothing but doubles off the wall to write about.
Some of the writers suggested that Gehrig was such a stoic that he did not care about records. Whenever Gehrig approached or set a record, reporters pounding at their portable typewriters made it sound as if the shy slugger was unaware or unconcerned with the feat
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