Lou Gehrig: ALS or Not?

New Research Sheds Light on Baseball Legend's Death

By The New York Times

For decades, the cause of Lou Gehrig's death has been attributed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But a group of neurologists, physicians, and pathologists now believe otherwise.

Henry Louis Gehrig, born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig on June 19, 1903, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees.

In 1939, Gehrig was diagnosed with a rare nervous system disorder that would later be named amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This disease has come to be known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

75 years after Gehrig's death, new research is shedding light on the true cause of his death. Thursday marks 75 years from the June 2, 1941, death of Lou Gehrig, the great Yankees baseball player who was diagnosed with amyotrophic...