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Lou Gehrig, Four Home Runs:
June 3, 1932
The day could have gone done in history as the one when
Lou Gehrig pounded five home runs. He settled for four. In the ninth
inning he just missed a fifth homer when Al Simmons made a one-handed
snatch of the "Iron Horse's" shot.
In his first at bat in the first inning at Shibe Park in Philadelphia
before 7,300 Gehrig mashed the ball into the stands in left-center for a
two-run shot. His second home run of the day went over the right field
wall in the fourth inning. Home run #3 went into the stands in the fifth
inning.
The Athletics' George Earnshaw gave up the first three homers. Philly
manager Connie Mack replaced Earnshaw with Leroy Mahaffey who gave up
Gehrig's fourth homer in the seventh inning. That shot screamed over the
right field wall and tied Ty Cobb's American League record for total
bases in game - 16.
Gehrig had two more chances to become the first player to hit five
homers in a game (Bobby Lowe and Ed Delahanty had four in the 19th
century). When the Yankee hero came to bat in the eighth inning,
Philadelphia fans cheered, urging him to hit a home run. He grounded
out. The Yankee first baseman came up for the final time in the game in
the ninth inning against pitcher Ed Rommel. A fifth home run was missed
by inches as Gehrig hit his hardest shot of the day - caught in the
furthest part of the park in deep centerfield.
With his heroics, Lou Gehrig became the first player in the 20th century
to hit four homers in a game. That was some game, one the Yankees hung
on to win, 21-3.
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You can reach
Harvey Frommer at:
Email: harvey.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU
About the Author:
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of
writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics:
"New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative
history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as
well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball." The prolific Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK
(2010).
Frommer sports books are available direct from the
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Harvey
Frommer along with his wife, Myrna Katz Frommer are the authors of
five critically acclaimed oral/cultural histories, professors at Dartmouth
College, and travel writers who specialize in cultural history, food, wine, and Jewish history and heritage
in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.
This Article is Copyright ©
1995 - 2009 by Harvey Frommer.
All rights reserved worldwide.
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