If you’ve watched any New York Yankees baseball over the past couple of years, you’ve probably noticed some pretty bold watches on the wrist of team manager Aaron Boone.
Often seen hanging out of the dugout sporting chunky divers with bright red, blue or yellow rubber straps, Boone is an ambassador for Swiss independent brand Oris. But Oris’s connection to baseball’s greatest franchise doesn’t end with Boone. Oris is also the official watch partner of the team, and Yankee Stadium features permanent Oris advertising surrounding the field.
Today, Oris tightens its relationship with the Yankees even more by launching a watch in honor of one of the team’s greatest legends: Lou Gehrig.
The Iron Horse
On June 2, 1925, Lou Gehrig became the starting first baseman for the New York Yankees, beginning one of the most illustrious careers in the history of the sport. Gehrig went on to play in a then-record 2,130 consecutive games, winning six World Series titles, a pair of AL MVPs, and putting up gaudy career numbers of 493 home runs, 1,995 RBI, 2,721 hits and a .340 batting average.
But Gehrig’s career was tragically cut short for health reasons. In May of 1939, after a mysterious months-long decline in his physical ability to play, Gehrig voluntarily ended his streak and pulled himself out of the Yankee lineup. A month later, he found out the reason for his decline when he was diagnosed with the deadly, degenerative nerve disease ALS. He was just 36 at the time and was forced to retire from baseball. Less than two years later, on June 2, the same day he began his historic streak, Gehrig succumbed to his disease and passed away at the age of 37.
