More A’s: Stephen Piscotty hopes Lou Gehrig Day will raise awareness about ALS
MESA, Ariz. — A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty said he hopes Major League Baseball launching an inaugural “Lou Gehrig Day” this season will help spur momentum in the fight against ALS, a deeply personal effort for him and his family.
MLB announced Thursday it will observe the first Lou Gehrig Day on June 2 to honor the Yankees legend and raise awareness and funds in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — the disease informally known by Gehrig’s name.
Piscotty’s mother, Gretchen, died of ALS in 2018. His father, Mike, started the ALS Cure Project with Stephen to raise funding and work toward developing a cure for the disease.
“I think it’s something that our organization has been pushing for and we’re ecstatic that there is finally going to be a day,” Piscotty said on a video call Thursday. “Hopefully this can spur further awareness and we can really catch some momentum here and really do some good.”
Piscotty said the push for a day recognizing Gehrig was “a team effort” that included several organizations — including ALS Cure Project — and individuals affected by ALS. Piscotty said the campaign at one point asked MLB players to send videos voicing support and received them from players including Aaron Judge and Nolan Arenado.
“It was very humbling to see that video of all these guys saying they were in support of this,” Piscotty said. “That’s why I say it was a team effort. There were a lot of organizations pushing for this, but at the end of the day the players were also, so it feels really special.”
One goal of the ALS CURE Project is to fund research that looks for biomarkers that could shed light on how ALS sets in; the disease mechanism is not known and no significant treatment or cure exists. Piscotty said the foundation aims to “bring together some of the big players in this fight” to work on roadblocks to finding a cure. He believes having an annual day recognizing Gehrig will help generate awareness and focus in the effort.
“It’s not going to be a oneoff thing where it kind of fades away,” Piscotty said. “Another fascinating thing is it’s been 80 years and there’s really been no advance in this field and we feel like that’s just unacceptable. And hopefully this is something that will keep that reminder in people’s minds and hopefully the organizations in this fight can align and really make some significant advances. It’s not going to be easy, but I think this is a good starting point.”
Gehrig joins Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente as players recognized with a leaguewide day. MLB said June 2 was chosen because it is the date Gehrig started his streak of 2,130 games played and the date of his death. Home teams will display “4ALS” logos at their stadiums and teams will wear a uniform patch, per an MLB release.
The A’s annually host an ALS Awareness Night at the Coliseum; they will be on the road June 2 this year and will find another date to recognize Lou Gehrig Day at home, the team said.