Lou Gehrig Memorial Award

The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Lou Gehrig, both on the field and off it.^[1] 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 1955. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy."^[1] The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta in Oxford, Ohio,^[2] 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.^[1]

Twenty-four winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.^[3] The inaugural winner was Alvin Dark.^[4] Curt Schilling and Shane Victorino, the 1995 and 2008 recipients, respectively, received the award for working with the ALS Association and raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease which took Gehrig's life and is commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease".^[5][6] 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.^[7]

Winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award have undertaken a variety of different causes. Many winners, including Rick Sutcliffe,^[8] Barry Larkin,^[9] Mark McGwire,^[10] Todd Stottlemyre^[11] and Derek Jeter,^[12] worked with children in need. Jeter assisted children and teenagers in avoiding drug and alcohol addiction^[12] through his Turn 2 Foundation,^[13] while Sutcliffe visited disabled children in hospitals^[8] and bestowed college scholarships to underprivileged juveniles through his foundation.^[14] 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,^[15] and Ryan Zimmerman, who established the ziMS Foundation to raise money for multiple sclerosis, the disease which afflicts his mother.^[16][17]

Winners

Alvin Dark won the inaugural Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1955.

Cal Ripken, Jr., the 1992 winner, surpassed Gehrig's record for consecutive games played three years later.^[18]

Derek Jeter, the 2010 winner, broke Gehrig's record for most hits as a member of the New York Yankees the year before.^[19]

Josh Hamilton is the most recent player to win the award.

Key

Year	Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year
Player	Name of the player
Team	The player's team at the time he won the award
Position	The player's position at the time he won the award
	Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
	Player is active

Winners

Year	Player	Team	Position	Ref
1955	Dark, AlvinAlvin Dark	New York Giants	Shortstop	[20]
1956	Reese, Pee WeePee Wee Reese	Brooklyn Dodgers	Shortstop	[21]
1957	Musial, StanStan Musial	St. Louis Cardinals	First baseman	[22]
1958	McDougald, GilGil McDougald	New York Yankees	Second baseman	[23]
1959	Hodges, GilGil Hodges	Los Angeles Dodgers	First baseman	[24]
1960	Groat, DickDick Groat	Pittsburgh Pirates	Shortstop	[25]
1961	Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	Milwaukee Braves	Pitcher	[26]
1962	Roberts, RobinRobin Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	Pitcher	[27]
1963	Richardson, BobbyBobby Richardson	New York Yankees	Second baseman	[28]
1964	Boyer, KenKen Boyer	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	[29]
1965	Law, VernVern Law	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pitcher	[30]
1966	Robinson, BrooksBrooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Third baseman	[31]
1967	Banks, ErnieErnie Banks	Chicago Cubs	First baseman	[32]
1968	Kaline, AlAl Kaline	Detroit Tigers	Outfielder	[33]
1969	Rose, PetePete Rose	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	[34]
1970	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	Atlanta Braves	Outfielder	[35]
1971	Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew	Minnesota Twins	Outfielder	[36]
1972	Parker, WesWes Parker	Los Angeles Dodgers	First baseman	[37]
1973	Santo, RonRon Santo	Chicago Cubs	Third baseman	[38]
1974	Stargell, WillieWillie Stargell	Pittsburgh Pirates	First baseman	[39]
1975	Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds	Catcher	[40]
1976	Sutton, DonDon Sutton	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	[41]
1977	Brock, LouLou Brock	St. Louis Cardinals	Outfielder	[42]
1978	Kessinger, DonDon Kessinger	Chicago White Sox	Shortstop	[43]
1979	Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro	Atlanta Braves	Pitcher	[44]
1980	Pérez, TonyTony Pérez	Boston Red Sox	First baseman	[45]
1981	John, TommyTommy John	New York Yankees	Pitcher	[46]
1982	Cey, RonRon Cey	Los Angeles Dodgers	Third baseman	[47]
1983	Schmidt, MikeMike Schmidt	Philadelphia Phillies	Third baseman	[48]
1984	Garvey, SteveSteve Garvey	San Diego Padres	First baseman	[49]
1985	Murphy, DaleDale Murphy	Atlanta Braves	Outfielder	[50]
1986	Brett, GeorgeGeorge Brett	Kansas City Royals	Third baseman	[51]
1987	Sutcliffe, RickRick Sutcliffe	Chicago Cubs	Pitcher	[52]
1988	Bell, BuddyBuddy Bell	Houston Astros	Third baseman	[53]
1989	Smith, OzzieOzzie Smith	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	[54]
1990	Davis, GlennGlenn Davis	Houston Astros	First baseman	[55]
1991	Hrbek, KentKent Hrbek	Minnesota Twins	First baseman	[56]
1992	Ripken, Jr., CalCal Ripken, Jr.	Baltimore Orioles	Shortstop	[57]
1993	Mattingly, DonDon Mattingly	New York Yankees	First baseman	[58]
1994	Larkin, BarryBarry Larkin	Cincinnati Reds	Shortstop	[59]
1995	Schilling, CurtCurt Schilling	Philadelphia Phillies	Pitcher	[60]
1996	Butler, BrettBrett Butler	Los Angeles Dodgers	Outfielder	[61]
1997	Molitor, PaulPaul Molitor	Minnesota Twins	Designated hitter	[62]
1998	Gwynn, TonyTony Gwynn	San Diego Padres	Outfielder	[63]
1999	McGwire, MarkMark McGwire	St. Louis Cardinals	First baseman	[64]
2000	Stottlemyre, ToddTodd Stottlemyre	Arizona Diamondbacks	Pitcher	[65]
2001	Franco, JohnJohn Franco	New York Mets	Pitcher	[66]
2002	Graves, DannyDanny Graves	Cincinnati Reds	Pitcher	[67]
2003	Moyer, JamieJamie Moyer	Seattle Mariners	Pitcher	[68]
2004	Thome, JimJim Thome	Philadelphia Phillies	First baseman	[69]
2005	Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	Pitcher	[70]
2006	Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman	San Diego Padres	Pitcher	[71]
2007	Timlin, MikeMike Timlin	Boston Red Sox	Pitcher	[72]
2008	Victorino, ShaneShane Victorino	Philadelphia Phillies	Outfielder	[73]
2009	Pujols, AlbertAlbert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	First baseman	[74]
2010	Jeter, DerekDerek Jeter	New York Yankees	Shortstop	[75]
2011	Zimmerman, RyanRyan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	Third baseman	[76]
2012	Zito, BarryBarry Zito	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	[77]
2013	Hamilton, JoshJosh Hamilton	Los Angeles Angels	Outfield	[78]
2014	Beltré, AdriánAdrián Beltré	Texas Rangers	Third baseman	[79]

See also

• Roberto Clemente Award
• Players Choice Awards (The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award)
• Branch Rickey Award
• Baseball awards
• List of Major League Baseball awards

References

General

Specific

Major League Baseball awards and trophies Team Commissioner's Trophy (list of winners) Warren Giles Trophy (NL pennant winners) William Harridge Trophy (AL pennant winners) Individual Most Valuable Player (MVP) Cy Young Manager of the Year Rookie of the Year Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Gold Glove Silver Slugger World Series MVP All-Star Game MVP Rolaids Relief Man Comeback Player of the Year League Championship Series MVP Reliever of the Year Player of the Month Pitcher of the Month Rookie of the Month Player of the Week Other Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award Book:Major League Baseball awards Category:Major League Baseball awards Portal:Baseball