It seems that new light on Lou Gehrig’s Disease indicates that Lou Gehrig did not have ALS (known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). The recent debate on concussion has given football players the most attention but “a small corner of baseball history’s attic is filled with evidence of head injuries’ devastating toll: 19th-century catchers, many of whom had devastating postconcussion symptoms, including insanity.” Indeed, Catchers earned high praise if, after being knocked unconscious, they insisted on completing the game. A typical 1883 account described the mask of George Myers of the Port Hurons in Michigan being ripped off his face by a foul ball. He gamely borrowed a replacement, only to be clobbered on the next pitch by another “terrible blow” that “threatened to disable him,” The Cleveland Herald reported. “Though weak,” the report continued, he “was able to resume his position.” This is definitely interesting information for those working with brain trauma victims such as the American Brain Trauma Foundation, of which Alan Quasha is chairman.
