Reds honor Lou Gehrig Day organizer

On Monday, the Cincinnati Reds celebrated MLB’s inaugural Lou Gehrig Day during their makeup game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Scheduled to be celebrated every June 2, Lou Gehrig Day was put on hold in Cincinnati after a rainout postponed the game and festivities at the start of the month. But the Reds made sure the tribute to Gehrig was a full go the second time around with a heavy slate of pregame ceremonies, activations and more to recognize the Yankees legend’s impact both on and off the field.

With Lou Gehrig Day instituted this season, Gehrig joins Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente as the only players whose legacies are celebrated annually with dedicated, league-wide days. “The Iron Horse” was one of the best players to ever live, but today his name is largely synonymous with the disease that tragically cut his life short: ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Approximately 5,000 people are diagnosed each year as the fight to find a cure and more effective treatments continues. With MLB cementing Lou Gehrig Day in its annual calendar, hopefully the expanded awareness will lead to results.

“Major League Baseball is thrilled to celebrate the legacy of Lou Gehrig, whose humility and courage continue to inspire our society,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “While ALS has been closely identified with our game since Lou’s legendary career, the pressing need to find cures remains. We look forward to honoring all the individuals and families, in baseball and beyond, who have been affected by ALS and hope Lou Gehrig Day advances efforts to end this disease.”

At Monday’s game, the first 15,000 fans in attendance received a Lou Gehrig baseball card presented by Humana. Pregame ceremonies in partnership with the Lou Gehrig Day Committee, the ALS Association of Central & Southern Ohio and Phi Delta Theta included the national anthem, game ball delivery and a Lou Gehrig Memorial Award ceremony with representatives from Phi Delta Theta, the Permobil Foundation and the LiveLikeLou Foundation. This year’s Reds nominee, Tucker Barnhart, was a finalist for the award for his community work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the field, “4-ALS” logos were featured around the ballpark with a “4” stenciled on the mound, commemorating Gehrig’s uniform No. 4. In addition, all players, managers and coaches wore a special “Lou Gehrig Day” patch on their uniforms and were given the opportunity to don red “4-ALS” wristbands. And throughout the game, vignettes were shown highlighting the five Reds who were previous league-wide winners of the Lou Gehrig Award: Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Danny Graves and Joey Votto.

The highlight of the evening was a ceremonial first pitch and ceremony featuring Lou Gehrig Day Committee Co-Chair Adam Wilson, who was instrumental in getting MLB to adopt an official Lou Gehrig Day. A Mason, Ohio, native and lifelong Reds fan, Wilson was diagnosed with ALS in 2015 at age 32. After managing to continue working for several years following his diagnosis, he then retired and began consulting and working with various ALS groups. In May 2019, he and a group of others affected by ALS began contacting MLB clubs to get all teams on board for a league-wide Lou Gehrig Day.

Despite losing his ability to walk and speak, and being restricted to limited use of his left hand, Wilson has remained committed to honoring one of the greatest baseball players of all time and bringing awareness to finding cures and treatments for the debilitating disease. This perseverance surrounded him with a community of like-minded people who achieved their goal of establishing Lou Gehrig Day for this year and every year to follow.

On Monday, Wilson’s 11-year-old daughter Avery offered up a ceremonial first pitch on behalf of her father, with Wilson’s own dad, Tim, assuming the role as catcher. With a large crowd of family and friends gathered in attendance in support, Avery delivered a pitch to her grandfather to officially ring in the first annual Lou Gehrig Day in Cincinnati.

But that wasn’t all. The Reds, in collaboration with all the partners from the Lou Gehrig Award ceremony, surprised Wilson with a custom, new Reds-branded wheelchair to cap off a special night for the entire Wilson family.

“Our experience at the Reds' Lou Gehrig Day was amazing,” Wilson said. “The first pitch, the ceremony honoring people with ALS & organizations, the ALS awareness on the scoreboard throughout the game, the grand slam, MVP chants, and a win! It was a night to remember. The Reds are among the teams to be used as an example for how to do it right -- no other team did giveaways or celebrated the Lou Gehrig Award with videos. As usual, the people that work for the Reds are first class.”