Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig's farewell at Yankee Stadium on 4 July 1939, weeks after being diagnosed with the disease that now carries his name, lasts barely two minutes. Instead of self-pity he thanks teammates, groundskeepers and his family, and calls himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth". Its power comes from what it leaves out, and it remains the template for every sporting farewell since.