Incredibly powerful portrait photograph of Yankees legend, Lou Gehrig from June 21, 1939 – the very day his medical condition was revealed to the world and it was announced he would have to retire from baseball. While the included paper caption refers to Gehrig's condition as "a mild form of infantile paralysis," it would later be revealed Gehrig suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Two weeks later, on July 4, 1939 Gehrig delivered his "Luckiest Man" speech, stating "For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and havenever received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans..."

Surface of this photo is clean with bright white borders and virtually free of obtrusive blemishes. Verso shows paper remnants adhered to the very top edge and includes large International News stamping. A full paper caption is included, with wonderful period detail. Measures 6.5" x 8.5". Encapsulated as a Type 1 photo by PSA/DNA.