About the Club

 

Originally established in 1940,  by three Yankees fans from northern New Jersey with  help from Yankees President, Ed Barrow.

 

The first, and only, edition of the Fan Club’s newsletter was published in March 1940, and creatively named a “Gehrigram”.

 

It is unclear how many members there were exactly but there is mention of 200 newsletters having been mailed out in a Club letter sent to members by VP Joe Scalise Jr.

 

 

In 2017 the Fan Club was re-established as a Facebook Group expectedly named “Lou Gehrig Fan Club”. With limited content posted the first couple of years were slow to accumulate members. But in 2019 content began being posted regularly and membership grew quickly to over 3,000. With spirited discussions occurring and a core of very passionate fans the group developed ideas to expand. First was the creation of membership cards 2021 followed by the creation of Club accounts on Instagram and X (Twitter). 


The Fan Club assisted the LG4Day Committee in 2020 & 2021 with research in preparation for the inaugural Lou Gehrig Day June 2, 2021. In 2022 the Club began discussing having an event to allow members to meet one another. The Club found a perfect  opportunity to host Gehrig themed celebration for the Club. The opportunity? 2023 was the 100th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s major league debut in June 2023. And the ideal location was found to host the event as well, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The Club members in attendance were entertained by presentations from guest speakers; both authors of Gehrig books Dan Joseph and Kevin Larkin. Both shown below holding their books.

 


Naturally we asked the Hall of Fame provide a couple VIP presentations from their amazing Gehrig artifacts collection which included a game used 1939 jersey, bat, glove and hat, trophies won by Gehrig, the original PHI DELTA THETA Lou Gehrig Award given to Alvin Dark in 1955 and the champagne bottle used by Mom Gehrig to christen the SS Lou Gehrig Liberty ship in 1943. By far the most memorable presentation was a forensic-style deep dive into researching the history of the infamous Gehrig bracelet and how it came to be. Members were able to have pictures taken with the artifacts and see each of them up close. The Club was also able to raise a donation of over $1,000 for ALS Cure. The Fan Club loves to share stories about Gehrig’s life both on and off the field and take great pride in helping the ALS community whenever we can.

 

 

And of course we had plenty of free giveaways for everyone in attendance!

 

Businesses & Organizations 

that have collaborated with the LGFC.

  • LG4Day.com

  • TheyPlayedInColor.com

  • ALS Cure Project

  • LIVELIKELOU.ORG

  • Phi Delta Theta

  • Baseball Hall of Fame

  • Lou Gehrig Society