For One Day - Not a Hater
Mickey has ALS, and last summer, while attending Orioles fantasy camp, he decided to become an advocate for more research for this terrible disease, which was then just beginning to rob him of his strength and coordination. The disease is called, after all, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Mickey believed that MLB should do more to raise money and awareness about ALS. Thanks in large part to a couple articles written by George Vecsey, Mickey's crusade drew national attention, and eventually persuaded MLB to get on board. So this year, on July 4, which was the seventieth anniversary of Gehrig's famous speech -- "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth...." -- every ball park across the nation featured some form of recognition for MLB's new partnership -called "4 - ALS". Maybe someone read the speech; maybe someone delivered a check. And as we sat in Yankee stadium, we watched a fifteen minute tribute to our friend, and his dedication to this cause.
Then we all watched Mickey walk to the mound with his son Austin, and throw out the first pitch. Everyone in the Stadium rose to their feet as he walked slowly off the mound, and back to his wheel chair behind home plate. Later that afternoon, we visited Mickey in the box that the Yankees had given him and his family for the day, and even had a sandwich and a Crown Royal on the Steinbrenners. Mickey's no Yankee fan himself, but he wore a pinstriped jersey all afternoon, one with Gehrig's number on the back. Every ballplayer wore a 4-ALS patch on his uniform. So for just that one afternoon, under sunny skies in the Bronx, we ceased and desisted from our hating. When Matsui homered in the second inning, to tie the game, and Tunic offered a high five, I even responded, celebrating with all the locals.
The next day, George Vecsey wrote a beautiful tribute to Mickey, and the courage he displayed before fifty thousand fans, despite the ravages of his disease.
Gehrig’s Voice Echoes in a Story of Courage
Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. Gehrig died from A.L.S. two years later.
Michael Goldsmith was concerned a few fans might boo when they saw his underhanded flip of the ball in the ceremonial first pitch Saturday. But 70 years to the day after Lou Gehrig’s immortal speech in Yankee Stadium, the fans understood the courage it took for Goldsmith just to stand on the field.
Stricken by the vicious illness that now bears Gehrig’s name, Goldsmith was responsible for Major League Baseball’s holding ceremonies in 15 parks to raise money and awareness to fight A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
A.L.S. is “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord,” in the words of the A.L.S. Association. A.L.S. is invariably fatal, usually within four years.
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Goldsmith, a law professor at Brigham Young University, was found to have A.L.S. in 2006. But he stood up on the field in defiance of his illness, on the day he had envisioned in his activist lawyer’s mind.
He lighted the bulb in Major League Baseball’s brain, saying the sport had used the doomed Gehrig as one of its central heroes for seven decades, and now it was time to give something back. After he wrote a guest column in Newsweek in November 2008, his idea was noticed by Commissioner Bud Selig, who set Saturday’s event in motion.
As the Yankees prepared to play the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, as part of a project called 4♦ALS Awareness, all on-field personnel wore patches with Gehrig’s No. 4 on them. Portions of Gehrig’s speech were recited by current Yankees stalwarts during pregame ceremonies on a gorgeous afternoon. Bases used during the game will be auctioned. And the Yankees donated $25,000 as an example to help fight A.L.S.
The Web site mlb4als.mlblogs.com is in operation to teach people about the illness and how to pledge money for base hits by their favorite players, in the major or minor leagues. As an example of what can be done, the Philadelphia Phillies have raised $867,670 this year in a separate drive against A.L.S.
More money is needed because pharmaceutical companies are not interested in research for drugs to fight A.L.S. because of the current lack of progress, according to Steven Perrin, the chief executive of the A.L.S. Therapy Development Institute in Cambridge, Mass., who was in a private suite provided by the Yankees.
No other donation of gate receipts from M.L.B. or other clubs was specified, and perhaps it could have been, but baseball does take on a number of causes. Major League Baseball has been working for months to produce this day all over the United States, under the leadership of Jacqueline Parkes, the chief marketing officer, and her colleagues.
“M.L.B. has billed this as an awareness event rather than a fund-raiser,” Goldsmith wrote in a recent e-mail message, adding, “but each of the four charities will have ample opportunity to raise funds.”
Goldsmith’s dream came to fruition not far from the place where, on July 4, 1939, Gehrig called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” He died on June 2, 1941, not quite 38. Goldsmith, 58, has proved he is one of the most determined people on the face of the earth.
“You know you are going to die a horrible death,” said Ron Goldstock, Goldsmith’s friend and former boss at the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. “But there has not been a word of complaint from him.”
“He spent his time working on this project knowing that the money raised could not help him,” Goldstock continued, “and that is an extraordinary thing.”
Goldsmith’s life had been an adventure. His vivacious mother, Anita Burg, who was present Saturday, left Austria in 1939 and moved to what is now Israel, where her son was born in 1951.
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“I told Michael he did not need to go to such extremes to get me to a baseball game,” she said. After growing up in Forest Hills, Queens, as a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, Goldsmith left the task force for B.Y.U. because of the long ski season, said Aric Press, the editor of The American Lawyer and a friend since their Cornell days.
When Goldsmith learned he had A.L.S., he kept going, attending the Orioles’ fantasy camp, taking batting practice at B.Y.U. But he knew enough about the public decline of Gehrig, the powerful and durable first baseman. Gehrig’s courage was depicted in the classic 1942 movie “The Pride of the Yankees” with Gary Cooper, and has since been described by Ray Robinson in the 1990 book “Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time” and by Jonathan Eig in the 2005 book “Luckiest Man.”
It took courage for Goldsmith to make the long haul to New York from Utah, accompanied by his wife, Carolyn, and his two children from a previous marriage, Jillian and Austen. The son escorted his dad onto the field for the dignified half-hour that included a video linking Gehrig and Goldsmith. Manager Joe Girardi gave Goldsmith, who wore a special A.L.S. Yankees striped jersey, a copy of the day’s lineup.
“I have spent more than two decades exhorting law students to take a proactive ‘can-do’ approach to the law and life in general,” Goldsmith wrote last week. “And I have tried to lead by example, showing them how creativity and commitment to a cause can produce positive results. The success of this effort demonstrates yet again how the power of one can make a difference.”
“As for me, my health has declined considerably recently,” Goldsmith added. “I use a wheelchair part time, have skinny chicken arms, voice has become impaired, etc. But I’m still in the game and intend to go down swinging.”
Lou Gehrig, who swung for the fences as long as he could, still holds the record with 23 grand slams. On the 70th anniversary of Gehrig’s speech, Michael Goldsmith hit his own grand slam. His underhand pitch was short, as he knew it would be, but the fans understood, and cheered.
I never imagined I'd be so moved by something happening in Yankee Stadium, short of a game seven win. But I was.
posted by pops | 8:42 PM
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