A beloved high school baseball coach and lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fan diagnosed with ALS was honored Monday night with a life-changing gift.
Jason Ramirez and his family were the guests of honor at Dodger Stadium prior to Monday’s first pitch against the New York Mets to receive a custom Permobil power wheelchair.
Ramirez, former varsity baseball coach at California High School in South Whittier, was diagnosed with ALS in 2023. The neurodegenerative disorder eventually forced Ramirez to retire from a 20-year coaching career.
On Monday, Ramirez was joined on the field by his family and reigning World Series Most Valuable Player Freddie Freeman to receive the custom Dodgers-themed wheelchair and a standing ovation from the more-than 48,000 in attendance.
“The former coach of the year poured his heart and soul into his passion for youth and baseball each and every day,” read Dodger Stadium announcer Todd Leitz during the emotional ceremony. “We’re thrilled to present him with a custom Los Angeles Dodgers branded Permobil wheelchair to assist him with the independence he needs and deserves.”
The donation was made through the Dodgers, Freeman himself, the Permobil Foundation and Live Like Lou, a nonprofit that provides support for those suffering from ALS and helps fund research for a cure.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, whose namesake shocked the world more than 85 years ago when he announced his diagnosis with the—at the time—relatively unknown disease.
Gehrig was a six-time World Series Champion, an MLB Hall-of-Famer and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the game’s history.
His historic streak of 2,130 consecutive games played ended mysteriously in May 1939 after he voluntarily removed himself from the team’s lineup due to an undiagnosed ailment. He would later become the most high profile American to be diagnosed with ALS, and two weeks later, would say his goodbye to the sport in what is now known as the “Luckiest Man” speech.
“For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” Gehrig said to a collection of media members and thousands of stunned and somber fans at the original Yankee Stadium. “I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”
Gehrig died from the debilitating disease on June 2, 1941, two years after his farewell. Since 2021, June 2 has been celebrated league-wide by Major League Baseball as Lou Gehrig Day.
On Tuesday, all MLB teams on the schedule wore a No. 4 patch on their jerseys in honor of Gehrig. His number is also retired by his one and only team, the New York Yankees.
This past Sunday also marked the 100-year anniversary of the beginning of Gehrig’s historic consecutive games played streak.
As for local hero Jason Ramirez, a verified GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds in his fight against ALS.
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