Phil Flach to Throw First Pitch on Lou Gehrig Day
Phil Flach of Effingham will throw out the first pitch at the Cubs’ game on lou gehrig Day, giving the team’s June 2, 2026 visit with the Athletics at Wrigley Field a direct ALS connection. Flach has been diagnosed with ALS, and the appearance is being used to draw attention to the disease.
The Cubs will host the Athletics in Chicago on Tuesday night, the date Major League Baseball observes Lou Gehrig’s Day across every game on the schedule. Lou Gehrig died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1941 at age 37, and the league’s annual observance is built around ALS awareness.
Wrigley Field and Phil Flach
Flach said the pitch “will be a floater!” That small joke fits the larger point of the night: a local man living with ALS will have a visible role in a league-wide effort tied to the disease.
He will be hosted by Cubs TV broadcaster John “Boog” Sciambi, who had a friend die from ALS. The connection gives Flach’s appearance a personal layer inside the game’s larger observance, with Wrigley Field serving as the stage for a cause that has touched both families.
Karen Flach’s ALS mission
Karen Flach is working to create awareness of ALS and reaching out to people in the community who have been touched by it. She said, “I have made it my mission.”
Her focus goes beyond the ceremonial first pitch. She said she will be working to heighten awareness of resources and efforts such as Leon’s Legacy, which raises funds for caregivers of those dealing with ALS.
The June 2 appearance gives that message a larger platform, and it puts a local family’s effort in front of a national audience on a day baseball has set aside for ALS awareness. For people looking to support that push, the most immediate takeaway is simple: the game is not just another date on the Cubs’ home schedule.
