1933 Goudey #92 Lou Gehrig - SGC 9

Lou Gehrig, an athlete who embodied being a New Yorker more than any other, defined what it meant to be a fighter.

“The Iron Horse” earned his sterling reputation as much through his play, including seven World Series titles, two MVPs, and a Triple Crown at the center of the Yankees Murder’s Row, as his ceaseless determination that allowed him to set the longstanding record for consecutive games played at 2,130. He is perhaps most fondly remembered for the bravery and incredible resolve he showed when his streak and career was cut short by a diagnosis for ALS.

The card commemorates Gehrig’s 11th season in the majors, a year in which he was chosen to be part of the first ever AL-NL All-Star Game. Lou batted .334 while smacking 32 home runs with 140 RBI, a titanic campaign that occurred in the midst of an eight-year run in which he finished in the top five in AL MVP voting each season. He also broke the then-record for most consecutive games played with 1,308, a record he held for more than 60 years.

The 1933 Goudey Gum card set is among the most celebrated vintage card sets in existence. The first baseball card set produced by Goudey Gum Company, much of the praise for the product comes from the vibrant coloration, the checklist packed with Hall of Famers, as well as the fact that 1933 Goudey was a pioneer in the chewing gum card tradition. Considered by many the first major gum card release, the set featured cards that were both larger and thicker than those that came before with gum and candy. They were a smash hit almost immediately, and still are more than 90 years later. In impressive and relatively unblemished condition, this Gehrig cased within the famed SGC “tuxedo” slab has nearly unparalleled eye appeal.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Mint condition, receiving a grade of 9 from the Sportscard Guaranty Corporation (SGC). It is the highest grade ever assigned to the card by SGC, making this one of only three prints to reach the mark.

This card has been reholdered. The new SGC certificate number for this card is: 0133721.

Going Deeper - Lou Gehrig

Lucky Lou

To say that Lou Gehrig was dependable would be to say that Babe Ruth’s bat had power. It isn’t wrong, but to call it an understatement would be an understatement.

By 1939, “Larrupin’ Lou” had done just about everything a ballplayer could hope to accomplish in the game. To that point, he had won seven championships with the same Bronx Bombers that he came up with at 20 years old nearly two decades prior while earning two MVP awards and staking a claim to being the most exceptional slugger south of Ruth in baseball history. Not to be overlooked, he had also not missed a Yankee game in fourteen years.

His streak of consecutive games played had demolished the prior mark and even before it ended had been considered one of sport’s great unbreakable records. At the height of his powers, however, Gehrig was struck with an illness that rocked the nation.

Through the second half of the 1938 season, Gehrig had noticed his play begin to slip. What he thought initially was a run of fatigue from the years-long streak had caused him to lose his coordination and balance as well as his patented gargantuan strength. As his play began to slip, the streak weighed heavily on the team and Gehrig himself leading to him electively ending the run during what would be his final Major League game on April 30th, 1939.

A few months later, on his 36th birthday, Gehrig went to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and was officially diagnosed with a lesser known ailment called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS. At that point, he knew his career had reached an end and in the face of an intimidating and unsure future Gehrig would have had every right to feel hurt, slighted, and wary of the public. Instead, he delivered not only one of the most poignant memories in sports history, but one of America’s unforgettable public addresses.

On July 4th, 1939 over sixty thousand people gathered at Yankee Stadium to see Gehrig in pinstripes one last time. With a mind, body, and soul likely exhausted beyond imagination, Lou expressed profound gratitude to those who had supported him from the stands and fought alongside him on the field. Even in light of what he referred to as a “bad break,” Gehrig addressed the crowd, in words that would echo through time, declaring himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” As the stands erupted, Gehrig fought through tears while the whole of his Yankee teammates patted him on the back.

Gehrig’s diagnosis and fight was so publicly significant that the illness is better known today as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” That moment of triumph and dignity is still making an impact today. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to funding research and fighting for a cure for “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” while MLB annually honors Gehrig and ALS awareness every June.