In 2022, the Chicago Cubs will be associated with at least one tried and true winner, as they’re joining up with the rest of Major League Baseball for the second annual Lou Gehrig Day. When you’re a Yankees best of the best, as Gehrig is, well, you’re in the most truly rarified air of the entire pantheon of pantheons.
Go to Yankee Stadium and visit Monument Park (although you’ll have to get there as soon as the gates open in order to get in) and you’ll understand this. Thirty-seven members of the Yankee organization are honored in Monument Park, with 22 having had their uniform numbers retired. However, there’s also an additional, elevated honor, consisting of a large red granite block, and this has been bestowed on just six legendary Yankees:
Manager Miller Huggins, players Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio, and owner George Steinbrenner.
For fans looking to attend Lou Gehrig Day at Wrigley Field, an ALS Awareness Special Ticket Offer is being offered where a portion of proceeds from each ticket purchased will be donated to Project Main St. So it’s all for a good cause. The co-founder of I AM ALS Brian Wallach and co-founder of Team Gleason, Steve Gleason, and their families will throw out ceremonial first pitches ahead of the start of the game.
The Cubs will host various ALS organizations at the ballpark and fans sitting in the Bleachers for the June 2 game will receive a custom T-shirt which brings awareness to the fight against ALS. The promotion is limited to the first 5,000 early arriving fans which can be redeemed upon arrival at the Bleachers.
To raise additional funds for one of the ALS charities, on Lou Gehrig highlighted during the June 2 game, Project Main St., Cubs Authentics will be auctioning off several items starting today, June 1, at 8:15 p.m. CDT, through Wednesday, June 8, at 8 p.m. CDT at www.cubs.com/auctions
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.