On this day in Yankees history - Lou Gehrig starts the streak

93 years ago today, Lou Gehrig pinch hit for Pee Wee Wanniger. The next day, Yankees' manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp and the team were in a slump, so Huggins made several lineup changes in hopes of turning things around. For the next 2,130 games, Gehrig was in the lineup in some capacity.

He managed to keep the streak alive through pinch hitting appearances, through injury, and other unforeseen events. Such as:

April 1933: he was hit in the head by Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehill. Although almost knocked unconscious, he remained in the game.

June 1933: he and manager Joe McCarthy were ejected from a game, but he had already had an at bat.

June 1934: he was hit by a pitch just above the right eye and was knocked unconscious. He left the game, but was in the lineup the next day.

July 1934: he suffered a lumbago attack (lower back pain) and had to be helped off the field. He was listed as shortstop the next day and would lead off. In his first and only plate appearance, he singled and was immediately replaced with a pinch runner.

General manager Ed Barrow also helped the Iron Horse keep running. The day Gehrig was sick with the flu, Barrow postponed a game as a rainout despite the fact it wasn't raining.

The Streak would come to an end on May 2, 1939 when the Iron Horse benched himself due to poor play and health due ALS.

"I haven't been a bit of good to the team since the season started. It's tough to see your mates on base, have a chance to win a game, and not be able to do anything about it. This record for consecutive games was always meaningless to me. Some of you newspaper guys wouldn't believe it, but maybe you will now."

Gehrig’s record stood for 56 years until September 6, 1995, when Cal Ripken Jr. broke it. The way the game is played today, I can say with 100% certainty that nobody will ever come close to touching Gehrig & Ripken’s feat.