Every baseball fan is familiar with Lou Gehrig. He was the Iron Horse, the New York Yankee who never missed a game in his life until he was too ill to play at all, a man whose astounding career was cut short by a horrible disease that is now named for him. But as this definitive new biography makes clear. Gehrig's life was more complicated--and, perhaps, even more heroic--than anyone really knew. While researching Luckiest Man, Jonathan Eig interviewed hundreds of people (including thirty-three former ballplayer who played with or against Gehrig), examined the archives of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and--most importantly-- unearthed nearly 200 pages of correspondence to and from Gehrig, none of which has ever been published, Luckiest Man is full of surprises. We learn the truth about the rumored sexual infidelity that lay behind the rift between Gehrig and Babe Ruth: that the symptoms of Gehrig's affliction began appearing as early as the spring of 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged: that the Iron Horse's own doctors lied to him about his chances (though Eleanor, Gehrig's wife, was told the grim truth); and how Gehrig lived the last two years of his short life. Including the glorious moments of Gehrig's singular career and a dugout's-eye view of one of the greatest sports dynasties in history, this is a book that no baseball fan will soon forget.