Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig, the first baseman for the Yanks who suffered from a crippling and incurable disease. Even when Gehrig was a student at Columbia University, the press had already pegged him as a top ballplayer. Soon the New York Yankees selected Gehrig for their lineup, and he became an overnight sensation on the baseball diamond. But this dedicated player--who had never missed a game once he stepped onto a Major League Baseball field--suddenly fell ill with a mysterious disease. As his body began to fail him, Gehrig had to say good-bye to the fans who idolized him and to the sport he loved so dearly.