In a November Newsweek article, Professor Michael Goldsmith called on the game of his youth to help fight the disease now plaguing him, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease (see my Nov. blog post here). Goldsmith encouraged MLB to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech on July 4, 2009 and to donate proceeds to fight ALS.
Major Leauge Baseball has now announced that it will begin a “4♦ALS Awareness” campaign and will commemorate Gehrig’s farewell speech. From MLB:
“On July 4, 2009, each home team will host an on-field reading of Gehrig’s Farewell speech during the 7th Inning Stretch. All players will wear a “4♦ALS” patch on their chest and MLB will promote the effort in a variety of ways, including in-stadium promotions. In addition, MLB.com will conduct an online auction to raise funds for the cause, and Major League Baseball will continue to work with the four organizations to identify additional opportunities to raise funds and awareness.”
See the MLB articles here and here and an ABA Journal article here.
In classes I took from him in law school, Professor Goldsmith always taught us to be “can do lawyers.” I admire him for practicing what he preaches. This is a great accomplishment that will bless the lives of many.
Update: Here’s the link to the NY Times article that discusses more of what happened to bring this about after Prof. Goldsmith’s article was published.