The first novel I ever read read was actually a bio of Gehrig. I was in the 4th grade. I should have stolen that book. The pickeled eels was something else! :^)
I’m female and a HUGE Yankee fan. Some of my earliest and greatest childhood memories are sitting on my Dad’s lap watching the Yankees on channel 11 out of NY. I swear that’s the only reason we got cable in the late 70’s was because we could watch Yankee games with Phil Rizzuto announcing on channel 11. I recently remodeled my kitchen and couldn’t decide on a theme. I’m not one of those country kitchen type people or flowery wallpaper types. So I painted it white and Yankee blue and put up Yankee border and have pictures of all the great Yankees hung everywhere. Countertop is even yankee blue. My mother in law thinks I’m crazy, but I’ve gotten tons of complements, even from a Redsox loving nephew! (Sorry for the vanity post but I’ve waited 9 years for this!!) The first photo I put up was Lou Gehrig, and I probably read that same bio you wrote about. I liked how he used to put lead weights in his boots in the off season so that when he went hunting and walked through the woods, it strengthened his legs. Just think of what he could have done if he hadn’t gotten sick.