July 4th 1939 gave witness to the greatest speech in the history of American sport. No script, no rehearsal, no preparation. Simple and humble words spoken from the heart.
Many people know the opening, and many more know the close, but few know the speech in its entirety. Please watch the tribute at the end…. For the love of the game.

For the past two weeks, you have been reading about the bad break I got.
Yet today, I consider myself – the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
I’ve been in ballparks for seventeen years, and I’ve never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it privilege – to associate yourself with such fine looking men as is standing in uniform in this ball park today.
Look at these grand men. Which of you would have considered it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day.
Sure, I’m lucky.
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