One blog leads to another. My entry on Cal Ripken Jr. brought alot of comments. Some took exception to my remark that Ripken was no Lou Gehrig, with one pointing out that it was well known that Gehrig kept his streak going by occasionally making a token appearance and taking the rest of the day off.

I had not heard these stories and believed that most likely Gehrig didn't even know he was close to a consecutive game record when he set it. Turns out the people who thought Gehrig made frequent cameo appearances were wrong.  (Note-Maybe not, see Moynahan's comment below).  I can live with that. But it also turns out I was wrong about Gehrig knowing about the consecutive game streak. I don't feel so good about that, because it means my streak of consecutive blogs without errors is back to one, which is also my all-time high.

Casey Stengel once said "You can look it up", so I did. I wanted to know who else played first base during Gehrig's streak, how often they played, and for how long. Also, who had the old consecutive game record before Gehrig and was it noticed at the time. Here's what I found out:

Gehrig knew about the consecutive game record. In fact, he played with the old record holder, Everett Scott, in Gehrig's rookie season. That was the year Yankee manager Miller Huggins broke Scott's streak by sitting him after he started the year hitting poorly. There was no big announcement, Huggins just called Scott over and said, "Wanninger is playing".

Scott was aware of his streak and took pride in it. It was nearly broken one season when he came down with boils. Luckily for him (as if luck and boils can be mentioned together) the game was rained out. Another time on a trip to Chicago, Scott took a train to Fort Wayne where he had a bowling alley, and was delayed by a train wreck trying to catch up to the team. He hiked across country, flagged down a car which he rented, got to Comiskey Park in the 7th inning and got into the game to keep the streak alive.

The Yankees thought enough of Scott, and enough about the streak, to invite him to be the team's guest at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis when Gehrig broke the record. So, it does appear Gehrig knew about the old mark. I was, well, something sort of the opposite of right.

Did Gehrig's backups play substantial innings after The Iron Horse put in token appearances to keep the streak alive? I don't see any evidence of that. Gehrig's backups usually played a handful of games a season, maybe twenty innings at most: The myth of Gehrig running up the streak by showing up and then coming out of the game is just that. A myth.

Here is a list of Gehrig's fill-ins:

Babe Ruth gets in a half game at first base in five seasons. He also goes to the mound as a pitcher five times with the Yankees, but that's another story for another day.

Fred Merkle. If you think you've heard the name Merkle, you probably have. As a rookie in 1908 he failed to run out a hit at the end of the game and was forced out in the "Merkle ####" that cost the Giants the pennant. Long out of the game, he somehow found his way to the Yankees for a few games in 1926 and 1927.

Cedric Durst. Durst was a solid hitter in the minors and had the misfortune of getting stuck behind George Sisler at first base in St. Louis with the Browns and Babe Ruth with the Yankees. Only played a handful of games at first with New York. He later managed the San Diego Padres of the old Pacific Coast League.

George Burns. No, not that George Burns. This one played mainly with Detroit and hit 62 doubles one year before his skills deserted him and he drifted to New York for part of a season.

Harry Rice. An outfielder, and a good one, with the old St. Louis Browns. Hit .359 one year. Only had 17 chances in his short time as Gehrig's backup.

Tony Lazzeri. The Yankees second baseman in the Ruth era and a deadly RBI producer. In 1930 he got in for one game and handled three chances without error.

Lynn Lary. Lary was a shortstop who once had a 100 RBI season with New York. He than began enjoying the nightlife a little too much, earning himself the nickname "'Broadway".

Merril Hoag. Played one game in relief of Gehrig during the streak. Never had a full season of stats, but somehow played thirteen seasons as a mostly backup outfielder. Once went six for six in a game, all singles, and was noted for having unusually small feet.

Doc Farrell. A career utility infielder who got into a couple of games in the early 30's.

Don Heffner. Only got into a few innings of one game in relief of Gehrig. Nothing special, he spent most of his career with the Browns, resurfacing for one forgettable season as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1966.

Jack Saltzinger. Got into the most games as Gehrig's backup, toward the end of his career. By then, Gehrig had the consecutive game streak and in any case never played more than 6 games in a season at first for the Yankees.

Babe Dahlgren. The year before disease ended Gehrig's career, his successor Babe Dahlgren came on in six games. Dahlgren had power, but didn't last long in New York after Gehrig left the team.

There you have it. Enough trivia to settle a dozen bar bets. But sometimes it's fun just to look back at the grand old game. There's a reason they call it that, because it is. And there's a reason they called Gehrig the Iron Horse. Because he was.