Lou Gehrig Breaks the Consecutive Games Record

On August 17, 1933, Lou Gehrig played his 1,308th consecutive game, breaking the record set by former Red Sox and Yankees shortstop Everett Scott. The game took place at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, where the Browns edged the Yankees 7-6 in ten innings. Scott himself attended as a guest of the Browns, watching from the stands as Gehrig surpassed a mark that had stood since 1925.

Gehrig's streak had started on June 1, 1925, when he pinch-hit for Pee Wee Wanninger. The next day, manager Miller Huggins inserted him at first base in place of Wally Pipp, and Gehrig never left the lineup. Through headaches, back spasms, broken fingers, and beanings, he showed up and played. He once had to be carried off the field after being hit in the head by a pitch, then returned the following day.

By August 1933, Gehrig was 30 years old and in the prime of his career. He would hit .334 with 32 home runs and 139 RBIs that season. The streak was becoming a source of public fascination, a demonstration of durability that matched Gehrig's quiet, workmanlike personality. While his teammate Babe Ruth commanded headlines with his personality, Gehrig earned respect through steady excellence and an unbroken chain of box score appearances.

The record Gehrig broke that day had seemed safe. Scott had played 1,307 consecutive games as a shortstop, a demanding defensive position, and baseball men assumed the feat would stand for decades. Gehrig did not merely surpass it. He obliterated it. The streak eventually reached 2,130 games before ending on May 2, 1939, when Gehrig removed himself from the lineup in Detroit, his body ravaged by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Cal Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig's record in 1995 at 2,131 games. But on August 17, 1933, the Iron Horse was just getting started.