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Submitted by: Charlie Jefferds, March 1, 2014 It was July 4, 1939..before a packed house at Yankee Stadium.. the man they called "The Iron Horse" began his farewell speech with "For weeks you've been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth"...spoken by a future Hall Of Famer who, along with Babe Ruth, helped create a dynasty and now had been forced to end his incredible run of 2632 consecutive games played and his career after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, known today and named after that baseball giant as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". Fast forward to 1996 when an accomplished sports journalist saw his former professor on "Nightline" talking about being a victim of that devastating and incurable disease. The erstwhile student got in touch, scheduled a get together and soon that meeting had grown to a weekly affair during which Professor Schwartz dispensed opinions, wisdom, advice and humor. So impressed was the sports writer that he decided to write a book. The author was Mitch Albom...the unforgettable book, "Tuesdays With Morrie"..packed with life lessons from a most unique human being. It landed on the best seller list far exceeding Mitch's expectations. He had hoped that he might be able to make enough to pay Morrie's medical bills. A treasured copy occupies a special place on our bookshelves...treasured because of its content and the relevance that resonates because of its sender. Bob, a fellow career broadcaster and friend....a talented, knowledgeable communicator whose tv and radio audiences were better informed and entertained because of his dedication and desire. He was the owner of a great sense of humor..his jokes were "events"...Steve Martin would have labeled him "a wild and crazy guy". I never could have dreamed the depth of determination and courage he possessed....not until he, too, became a victim of "Lou Gehrig's Disease". A.L.S, cruelly, caused the gradual regression of his ability to speak and his eventually being forced to leave the career he loved...as it had years earlier for the Yankee great. Miles separated us but we kept in touch with phone calls, e-mails and letters. We often shared thoughts and stories about our favorite sport, baseball, and its players. I was constatly amazed, as I remain today, that his keen interest, sense of humor, awareness and observations never flagged. One day the mail contained a book.."Tuesdays With Morrie"..a very special gift from a very special gifter, made even more special by the inscription inside, not only because of the words but because of the realization of what a huge physical effort it must have taken him to write them at that point. And to this day, what he expressed on that page tends to make me "lose it" whenever I read his sentiment. Bob's battle with A.L.S. spanned a much greater length that anyone could have possibly imagined. He eventually lost that battle but, like Morrie, his lessons of wisdom and humor endure. He made not have become a member of baseball's Hall Of Fame as the great Gehrig did, but his legacy of resilience and courage have made him a forever resident in life's Hall Of Fame. |
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