(Originally published by the Daily News on Wednesday, July 5, 1939; written by Rosaleen Doherty)
I sat beside a brave woman in the Yankee Stadium yesterday - a place dedicated to the courage of men. The woman was Mrs. Eleanor Gehrig, whose husband, Lou - the most durable baseball player of all time - has been forced to retire from the game by a mild form of infantile paralysis.
It was "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day," and 61,808 people the largest crowd of the year, had packed the Stadium to see the double-header and to pay homage to the Yanks' fallen star.