Lou Gehrig Analysis

Ben Pohlman AP Lang 11/8/10 Speech Analysis Lou Gehrig was one of the best baseball players of his time. He also gave one of the best speeches of baseballs history. When he was diagnosed with ALS, he had to quit his baseball career. In his Farwell Address to baseball, Lou Gehrig uses parallel structure to emphasize the statements that are truly important to him. “When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something”.

In 1939, Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees.These 2 teams were rivals of each other when Lou was diagnosed. To receive a gift from this team when he retired, that truly made him feel something on the inside. “When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. ” Gehrig is saying that absolutely everyone was honoring him. Even the low level positions of the stadium, honored him with trophies.

He couldn’t be happier to see something that spectacular happen to him. The fact that everyone appreciated the work he put in to the Yankees team, meant something to him. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who take sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something”. Most mother-in-laws take sides with their own daughter or son in an argument. But for Gehrig’s occasion, she would take sides with him.

This proved that he must have had something special that made his wife’s mother like him more than their kid. Obviously, Lou can appreciate the fact that he had an extremely caring mother in law because that meant something to him. “When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing”.Lou Gehrig really connects to the audience with this one. Most people were probably thinking they wouldn’t even be sitting in these seats if they didn’t have parents who worked for their education. Lou Gehrig is grateful that he had parents that got him through his early years and into his baseball career.

It is a blessing to have both parents working and helping you through the thick and thin, and getting you on the right path for adulthood. “When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that’s the finest I know. Gehrig really hits home with this one. It is almost necessary to have a wife that can be there with you, helping you out, believing in you, and encouraging you through the hard times. Gehrig knows that without his wife, it would have been nearly impossible to encounter the fate he had alone.

Lou Gehrig’s parallel structure really brings together the important things in life that we really should focus on. We don’t need all the fame and fortune that everyone dreams of. When it comes down to the end, the important things in life are being loved by friends and family, and being respected by everyone.