# Lou Gehrig Memorial Award

The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Lou Gehrig, both on the field and off it. The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in 1955, fourteen years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy." The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta in Oxford, Ohio, and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It is the only MLB award conferred by a fraternity.
Twenty-eight winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The inaugural winner was Alvin Dark. Curt Schilling (1995) and Shane Victorino (2008) received the award for working with the ALS Association and raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease took Gehrig's life and is eponymously known as "Lou Gehrig's disease". Mike Timlin won the award in 2007 for his efforts in raising awareness and finding a cure for ALS, which took his mother's life in 2002.
Winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award have undertaken a variety of different causes. Many winners, including Rick Sutcliffe, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire, Todd Stottlemyre and Derek Jeter, worked with children in need. Jeter assisted children and teenagers in avoiding drug and alcohol addiction through his Turn 2 Foundation, while Sutcliffe visited disabled children in hospitals and bestowed college scholarships to underprivileged juveniles through his foundation. Other winners devoted their work to aiding individuals who had a specific illness, such as Albert Pujols, whose daughter suffers from Down syndrome, and who devoted the Pujols Family Foundation to helping those with the disorder, and Ryan Zimmerman, who established the ziMS Foundation to raise money for multiple sclerosis, the disease which afflicts his mother.

## Winners

Key :
| Year | Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year |
| Player | Name of the player |
| Team | The player's team at the time he won the award |
| Position | The player's position at the time he won the award |
| † | Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| ‡ | Player is active |
Winners :
| Year | Player | Team | Position |
| 1955 | Alvin Dark | New York Giants | Shortstop |
| 1956 | Pee Wee Reese$^†$ | Brooklyn Dodgers | Shortstop |
| 1957 | Stan Musial$^†$ | St. Louis Cardinals | First baseman |
| 1958 | Gil McDougald | New York Yankees | Second baseman |
| 1959 | Gil Hodges$^†$ | Los Angeles Dodgers | First baseman |
| 1960 | Dick Groat | Pittsburgh Pirates | Shortstop |
| 1961 | Warren Spahn$^†$ | Milwaukee Braves | Pitcher |
| 1962 | Robin Roberts$^†$ | Baltimore Orioles | Pitcher |
| 1963 | Bobby Richardson | New York Yankees | Second baseman |
| 1964 | Ken Boyer | St. Louis Cardinals | Third baseman |
| 1965 | Vern Law | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pitcher |
| 1966 | Brooks Robinson$^†$ | Baltimore Orioles | Third baseman |
| 1967 | Ernie Banks$^†$ | Chicago Cubs | First baseman |
| 1968 | Al Kaline$^†$ | Detroit Tigers | Outfielder |
| 1969 | Pete Rose | Cincinnati Reds | Outfielder |
| 1970 | Hank Aaron$^†$ | Atlanta Braves | Outfielder |
| 1971 | Harmon Killebrew$^†$ | Minnesota Twins | Outfielder |
| 1972 | Wes Parker | Los Angeles Dodgers | First baseman |
| 1973 | Ron Santo$^†$ | Chicago Cubs | Third baseman |
| 1974 | Willie Stargell$^†$ | Pittsburgh Pirates | First baseman |
| 1975 | Johnny Bench$^†$ | Cincinnati Reds | Catcher |
| 1976 | Don Sutton$^†$ | Los Angeles Dodgers | Pitcher |
| 1977 | Lou Brock$^†$ | St. Louis Cardinals | Outfielder |
| 1978 | Don Kessinger | Chicago White Sox | Shortstop |
| 1979 | Phil Niekro$^†$ | Atlanta Braves | Pitcher |
| 1980 | Tony Pérez$^†$ | Boston Red Sox | First baseman |
| 1981 | Tommy John | New York Yankees | Pitcher |
| 1982 | Ron Cey | Los Angeles Dodgers | Third baseman |
| 1983 | Mike Schmidt$^†$ | Philadelphia Phillies | Third baseman |
| 1984 | Steve Garvey | San Diego Padres | First baseman |
| 1985 | Dale Murphy | Atlanta Braves | Outfielder |
| 1986 | George Brett$^†$ | Kansas City Royals | Third baseman |
| 1987 | Rick Sutcliffe | Chicago Cubs | Pitcher |
| 1988 | Buddy Bell | Houston Astros | Third baseman |
| 1989 | Ozzie Smith$^†$ | St. Louis Cardinals | Shortstop |
| 1990 | Glenn Davis | Houston Astros | First baseman |
| 1991 | Kent Hrbek | Minnesota Twins | First baseman |
| 1992 | Cal Ripken Jr.$^†$ | Baltimore Orioles | Shortstop |
| 1993 | Don Mattingly | New York Yankees | First baseman |
| 1994 | Barry Larkin$^†$ | Cincinnati Reds | Shortstop |
| 1995 | Curt Schilling | Philadelphia Phillies | Pitcher |
| 1996 | Brett Butler | Los Angeles Dodgers | Outfielder |
| 1997 | Paul Molitor$^†$ | Minnesota Twins | Designated hitter |
| 1998 | Tony Gwynn$^†$ | San Diego Padres | Outfielder |
| 1999 | Mark McGwire | St. Louis Cardinals | First baseman |
| 2000 | Todd Stottlemyre | Arizona Diamondbacks | Pitcher |
| 2001 | John Franco | New York Mets | Pitcher |
| 2002 | Danny Graves | Cincinnati Reds | Pitcher |
| 2003 | Jamie Moyer | Seattle Mariners | Pitcher |
| 2004 | Jim Thome$^†$ | Philadelphia Phillies | First baseman |
| 2005 | John Smoltz$^†$ | Atlanta Braves | Pitcher |
| 2006 | Trevor Hoffman$^†$ | San Diego Padres | Pitcher |
| 2007 | Mike Timlin | Boston Red Sox | Pitcher |
| 2008 | Shane Victorino | Philadelphia Phillies | Outfielder |
| 2009 | Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals | First baseman |
| 2010 | Derek Jeter$^†$ | New York Yankees | Shortstop |
| 2011 | Ryan Zimmerman | Washington Nationals | Third baseman |
| 2012 | Barry Zito | San Francisco Giants | Pitcher |
| 2013 | Josh Hamilton | Los Angeles Angels | Outfielder |
| 2014 | Adrián Beltré$^†$ | Texas Rangers | Third baseman |
| 2015 | Curtis Granderson | New York Mets | Outfielder |
| 2016 | Jose Altuve$^‡$ | Houston Astros | Second baseman |
| 2017 | Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds | First baseman |
| 2018 | Corey Kluber | Cleveland Indians | Pitcher |
| 2019 | Buster Posey | San Francisco Giants | Catcher |
| 2020 | Stephen Piscotty | Oakland Athletics | Outfielder |
| 2021 | Salvador Pérez$^‡$ | Kansas City Royals | Catcher |
| 2022 | Brandon Crawford | San Francisco Giants | Shortstop |
| 2023 | Paul Goldschmidt$^‡$ | St. Louis Cardinals | First baseman |