Lou Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games — a record that stood for fifty-six years — and the streak that defined his career may have masked the early symptoms of the disease that killed him. By the time he pulled himself from the lineup in 1939, the ALS that now bears his name had already been destroying his nervous system for months or years. The Iron Horse played through his own death sentence without knowing it.

This episode traces Gehrig from his immigrant family in New York through the consecutive game streak, the devastating 1939 diagnosis, the farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, and the disease that took his name and his life at thirty-seven.

• Gehrig’s immigrant family, his Columbia University education, and his quiet rise alongside Babe Ruth
• The 2,130 consecutive games and the declining performance that finally ended the streak
• The ALS diagnosis, the “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech, and its enduring power
• Gehrig’s death at thirty-seven and the disease that bears his name to this day