Lou Gehrig Memorial Award


The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Lou Gehrig, both on the field and off it. The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in, fourteen years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy." The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta in Oxford, Ohio, and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It is the only MLB award conferred by a fraternity.
Twenty-four winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The inaugural winner was Alvin Dark. Curt Schilling and Shane Victorino received the award for working with the ALS Association and raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The disease took Gehrig's life and is eponymously known as "Lou Gehrig's disease". Mike Timlin won the award in 2007 for his efforts in raising awareness and finding a cure for ALS, which took his mother's life in 2002.
Winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award have undertaken a variety of different causes. Many winners, including Rick Sutcliffe, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire, Todd Stottlemyre and Derek Jeter, worked with children in need. Jeter assisted children and teenagers in avoiding drug and alcohol addiction through his Turn 2 Foundation, while Sutcliffe visited disabled children in hospitals and bestowed college scholarships to underprivileged juveniles through his foundation. Other winners devoted their work to aiding individuals who had a specific illness, such as Albert Pujols, whose daughter suffers from Down syndrome, and who devoted the Pujols Family Foundation to helping those with the disorder, and Ryan Zimmerman, who established the ziMS Foundation to raise money for multiple sclerosis, the disease which afflicts his mother.

Winners

YearLinks to the article about the corresponding baseball year
PlayerName of the player
TeamThe player's team at the time he won the award
PositionThe player's position at the time he won the award
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Player is active

YearPlayerTeamPositionRef
New York GiantsShortstop
Brooklyn DodgersShortstop
St. Louis CardinalsFirst baseman
New York YankeesSecond baseman
Los Angeles DodgersFirst baseman
Pittsburgh PiratesShortstop
Milwaukee BravesPitcher
Baltimore OriolesPitcher
New York YankeesSecond baseman
St. Louis CardinalsThird baseman
Pittsburgh PiratesPitcher
Baltimore OriolesThird baseman
Chicago CubsFirst baseman
Detroit TigersOutfielder
Cincinnati RedsOutfielder
Atlanta BravesOutfielder
Minnesota TwinsOutfielder
Los Angeles DodgersFirst baseman
Chicago CubsThird baseman
Pittsburgh PiratesFirst baseman
Cincinnati RedsCatcher
Los Angeles DodgersPitcher
St. Louis CardinalsOutfielder
Chicago White SoxShortstop
Atlanta BravesPitcher
Boston Red SoxFirst baseman
New York YankeesPitcher
Los Angeles DodgersThird baseman
Philadelphia PhilliesThird baseman
San Diego PadresFirst baseman
Atlanta BravesOutfielder
Kansas City RoyalsThird baseman
Chicago CubsPitcher
Houston AstrosThird baseman
St. Louis CardinalsShortstop
Houston AstrosFirst baseman
Minnesota TwinsFirst baseman
Baltimore OriolesShortstop
New York YankeesFirst baseman
Cincinnati RedsShortstop
Philadelphia PhilliesPitcher
Los Angeles DodgersOutfielder
Minnesota TwinsDesignated hitter
San Diego PadresOutfielder
St. Louis CardinalsFirst baseman
Arizona DiamondbacksPitcher
New York MetsPitcher
Cincinnati RedsPitcher
Seattle MarinersPitcher
Philadelphia PhilliesFirst baseman
Atlanta BravesPitcher
San Diego PadresPitcher
Boston Red SoxPitcher
Philadelphia PhilliesOutfielder
St. Louis CardinalsFirst baseman
New York YankeesShortstop
Washington NationalsThird baseman
San Francisco GiantsPitcher
Los Angeles AngelsOutfielder
Texas RangersThird baseman
New York MetsOutfielder
Houston AstrosSecond baseman
Cincinnati RedsFirst baseman
Cleveland IndiansPitcher