Derek Jeter helped Major League Baseball commemorate the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's luckiest man speech yesterday, reading the famous line from the icon's stirring words during a video tribute before the New York Yankees' game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Yankees also placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers by Gehrig's monument in Monument Park and made a $25,000 donation to Major League Baseball's "4 (diamond) ALS" initiative, an effort to raise awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — the disease that forced Gehrig out of baseball in 1939 and took his life two years later.

ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, attacks nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord and robs from people who have it the ability to move and speak.

All major league players, coaches and on-field personnel wore patches yesterday to honor Gehrig's legacy and the initiative's logo was displayed on first base in each ballpark.

Gehrig played first base for the Yankees for 17 years, hitting .340 with 493 homers and 1,995 RBIs. He hit a record 23 grand slams, had 13 consecutive seasons of at least 100 RBIs and 100 runs, and helped New York win six World Series titles.

The Hall of Famer played in 2,130 straight games before he sat out against the Detroit Tigers on May 2, 1939, unable to play because of the effects of ALS. His consecutive games streak was the major league record before Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995.

In front of about 62,000 fans at the old Yankee Stadium, Gehrig delivered one of the most memorable speeches in sports history. He called his disease a "bad break," praised his teammates and manager Joe McCarthy and called his wife "a tower of strength."

The Yankees recreated the speech in a tribute shown on the videoboard of their new $1.5 billion ballpark yesterday, showing Gehrig reciting the first sentence before cutting away to Jeter for the signature line.

"Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth," the current Yankees captain said.

Several Yankees stars each read a line from the speech before the video cut back to Gehrig for the final few words.

LOU GEHRIG AWARD

PHILLIES' VICTORINO PRESENTED HONOR

Maui's Shane Victorino of Philadelphia was presented with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award before the Phillies' game against the New York Mets yesterday at Citizens Park Ballpark.

The award is sponsored by the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity, headquartered in Oxford, Ohio.

It is presented annually to the Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the giving character of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity's Columbia University chapter.

The award was first presented in 1955 and is permanently maintained at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Victorino, a St. Anthony High alum, is a starting outfielder for Philadelphia. He is batting .304 in 76 games.

ELSEWHERE

Minor Leagues: High Desert's James McOwen singled in the first inning last night against Visalia to extend his California League-record hitting streak to 41 games. The streak nearly came to an end in a 6-4 loss at Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night. McOwen, an outfielder drafted in the sixth round in 2007, had gone 0 for 2 with a walk for the Mariners' Class A affiliate before grounding a single to center with two outs in the ninth.

Yankees: New York starter Chien-Ming Wang left yesterday's game against Toronto with a strained right shoulder. Wang allowed four runs and six hits before he was replaced in the sixth inning. Wang, who missed time earlier this season with weakness in the adductor muscles in his hips, went for an MRI that revealed the shoulder strain and bursitis.