THE IRON HORSE . Oil on birch panel. 25" x 36 "

Lou Gehrig was a rock solid 6 foot, 210 pound lefthander who blasted line drives to all sections of the park. Dubbed "The Iron Horse," he was a compulsive worker with a record of 2,130 straight games played, and he proudly played his whole career with the New York Yankees. He played every game for more than 13 seasons, despite a broken thumb, painful back spasms and a broken toe. Xrays taken late in his career showed Gehrig's hands had 17 different fractures that had healed while he continued to play. Withdrawn, modest and unassuming, he nevertheless finally received recognition, but ironically, because of a fatal disease that prematurely ended his career, and tugged the heart strings of a nation.