Lou Gehrig

Gehrig passed into the pantheon of baseball immortals almost immediately upon his retirement. The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in the summer of 1939, ignoring their usual five-year waiting period. His #4 was retired, making him the first player ever to be so honored. Baseball diamonds across the country were named for him, as was a Liberty ship during World War II. His life story was dramatized in the 1942 film The Pride of the Yankees. By facing death with the same courageousness with which he had faced life every day, Gehrig finally achieved the fame that he deserved.