A hero isn't just the title of an action-packed character who saves the day, but can be anyone who lives and creates history, like legendary baseball player Lou Gehrig. Gehrig was a fabulous baseball hero who still holds unbreakable records today. Gehrig, Henry Louis ("Lou") (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), baseball player, better known as Lou Gehrig, was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan in New York City. Gehrig was the only child of Heinrich and Christina (Pack) Gehrig to survive to adulthood. Naturally shy, he was still a stocky, broad-shouldered boy. He spent long hours playing baseball and football on the sandboxes and schoolyards of New York City. He attended the High School of Commerce, where he excelled in both sports. His power on the gridiron brought him to the attention of Buck O'Neill, the Columbia College football coach who finally recruited him. Having enjoyed great success in both baseball and football during college, Paul Krichell, head scout for the New York Yankees, spotted Gehrig at a game and immediately signed him in 1923, after Columbia's baseball season closed; Gehrig left college to join the Yankees. (“Henry Louis Gehrig the Hero”1). Gehrig often said he was not the leading man type. He followed one of his teammates and personal friend Babe Ruth in the batting order, but unlike the lively Babe Ruth, Gehrig he led a relatively reserved and frugal existence. His fame owed too many Americans, “Columbia Lou,” as he was often called, represented the. rags-to-riches saga in the tradition of Horatio Alger Although overshadowed by Ruth both as pla......middle of paper......and 1925. Fans were still by his side stand for the good of his team and asked to be benched Gehrig didn't think only of himself, or of showing off. Then on July 4th "Appreciation Day" when ceremonies were held in his honor at Yankee Stadium , which was attended by members of the great Yankee teams he had played for and by more than 60,000 fans." It was proof that he had made the sport something new in the eyes of others. This is what makes Lou Gehrig a hero. Works Cited (The Grolier Library of North American Biographies. Athletes ed. Vol. 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 1994. Pg 86 -88. Print. North American Biographies.)("Henry Louis Gehrig." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. Biography in context. Web. May 12, 2014.)(Lou Gherig Legend." -1941) 16.1 (2010): 15. Gale Power Search, April 29. 2014.)