A native New Yorker, Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees for 14 years. One of the legends of a legendary team, Gehrig set a record by playing in 2,130 consecutive games. He had a career batting average of .340. The league batting champion in 1934, he was selected most valuable player in the American League in 1927, 1931, 1934, and 1936. Gehrig retired from baseball in 1939 and became New York City's parole commissioner. He was dying of a rare form of spinal paralysis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which today is known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." He died at the age of 37.