Gehrig gets his own day from MLB
June 2 marks anniversary of legendary streak
Major League Baseball will hold its first Lou Gehrig Day June 2, adding Gehrig to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente on the short list of players honored throughout the big leagues.
Each home team will have “4-ALS” logos in ballparks to mark Gehrig’s No. 4, and all players, managers and coaches will wear a Lou Gehrig Day patch on uniforms and may use red “4- ALS” wristbands. Teams that are off June 2 will observe Lou Gehrig Day June 3.
MLB said Thursday that the day will focus on finding cures and raising money for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which is known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the legacy of Gehrig and others who died of the progressive disease that attacks nerve cells controlling muscles throughout the body.
June 2 marks the 96th anniversary of when Gehrig made started at first base for the New York Yankees in place of Wally Pipp, starting his record streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. The mark stood until September 1995, when it was broken by Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. He played 2,632 consecutive games in a streak that ended in 1998.
Gehrig died of ALS at age 37 on June 2, 1941. He was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1939.
Mets
Team president Sandy Alderson said he is emphasizing offense over defense, but Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. were brought in to help with their gloves. “While some of our players aren’t defensive geniuses, we think that the overall blend that we have is pretty good,” Alderson said during an interview on the ESPN telecast of Thursday’s 8-4 win over Washington in Port St. Lucie, Fla. New York’s 32 errors were 10th among the 30 teams last year. Infield coach Gary DiSarcina is working toward improvement, manager Luis Rojas said, so pitchers “can trust their defense behind them to pitch to contact and be effective and be totally more economical with their pitch count.”
Nationals
Washington got a look at its top two pitching prospects, 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli and Rutledge, a 2019 first-round pick. Each appeared in a Nationals uniform against major league hitters from another team for the first time against the Mets. Each threw one scoreless inning and each struck out a pair of batters. “It being my first big league spring training game, it was good nerves,” Cavalli said.
Yankees
Manager Aaron Boone was discharged from the hospital, a day after having a pacemaker installed. Boone is on a leave of absence from the Yankees and intends to return to work in a few days. The 47year-old is entering his fourth season as Yankees manager. He had openheart surgery in 2009.
Reds
Outfielder Shogo Akiyama returned to spring training after a week away to be with his wife, who was seriously injured when a tree fell on her in a park in Ohio. Akaya Akiyama was hospitalized after being injured by the tree last week while she was walking in Sharon Woods in Cincinnati. Her husband said her condition is improving.
Braves
Pitcher Max Fried won’t make his first scheduled start of spring training because of a potential exposure to someone with COVID-19. Manager Brian Snitker said that Fried hasn’t tested positive for the virus, but the team is taking no chances. The lefthander had been scheduled to start Friday against the Minnesota Twins. “We’re laying him low for a couple of days,” Snitker said. Fried, a 17-game winner in 2019, went 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA last season and finished fifth in the National League Cy Young Award balloting.