Baseball great Lou Gehrig (the "Iron Horse") was, alongside teammate Babe Ruth, a powerhouse player on the New York Yankees during the 1920s and 1930s until his career was cut short by the degenerative disease that bears his name. Born Henry Louis Gehrig in 1903, he was the son of German immigrants who were living in Manhattan. Gehrig's high-school accomplishments earned him an opportunity to play sports at Columbia University, but he was coaxed into signing a professional contract with Hartford of the Eastern League under the surname Lewis. Gehrig hid his identity but not his talent, and the ruse was soon discovered. Columbia University promptly declared him ineligible for the 1921-1922 school year, but in his second year of college, he played exceptionally in both football and baseball. Paul Krichell of the New York Yankees discovered Gehrig in 1923 and offered him a $1,500 signing bonus...