une 3, 1941: Until he lapsed into a coma, New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig, the “Iron Horse” of baseball, was sure he would win against the rare disease that was slowly killing him. The Yankees announced that his locker and his number – 4 – would never be used again. In 14 years, he had played in 2,130 regularly scheduled games without a miss. Then he took himself out of the lineup May 1, 1939.  He remained with the Yankees the rest of the season, but sat in the far corner of the dugout and occasionally limped to home plate to give the umpire the lineup. He never played again.

In the years that followed, Gehrig took treatments and worked for the New York City Parole Commission until a month before his death, when he decided to remain at home to conserve his strength. He spent his final days sitting in a chair by a window in his room, looking out at the street.