May 2, 1939, after 2,130 consecutive games played, Lou Gehrig benches himself due to poor play. The Iron Horse was suffering at the time from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known today as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”
The streak began on June 1, 1925 when Gehrig entered the game as a pinch hitter. The next day Yankees manager Miller Huggins started him in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp and the team were in a slump, so Huggins made several lineup changes in hopes of turning things around. For the next fourteen years, Gehrig was in the lineup in some capacity.