Lou Gehrig made the only pinch-hit appearance of his career on June 1, 1925 when he came off the bench to hit for infielder Pee-Wee Wanninger. While the common tale told is that Gehrig’s 2,130-game streak started when he replaced Wally Pipp at first base (held out of the line-up due to the aftereffects of a concussion), the first game of Gehrig’s streak actually came the day before, with this pinch-hit appearance.
As young baseball fan in the late 60’s -early 70’s- interested as I remain in the history of baseball– this was always listed under “records that will never be broken” in my readings—and who could have seen it being broken…. and then along comes Cal Jr. Amazing achievements by both men.