The beloved high school baseball coach and lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fans diagnosed with ALS were recognized on Monday night with a life-changing gift.
Jason Ramirez and his family were guests of Dodger Stadium honors before their first pitch against the New York Mets on Monday to receive a custom Permville power wheelchair.
Ramirez, a former varsity baseball coach at South Whittier’s California High School, was diagnosed with ALS in 2023. Neurodegenerative disorder ultimately forced Ramirez to retire from his 20-year coaching career.
A custom Dodgers brand wheelchair presented to Jason Ramirez in Los Angeles on June 2, 2025. (Getty Images)
On Monday, Ramirez joined Freddie Freeman, the most valuable player of the Governance World Series, receiving a custom Dodger-themed wheelchair and standing ovations of over 48,000 attendees.
“This year’s former coach has poured his heart and soul into his daily youth and passion for baseball,” read Dodger Stadium announcer Todd Raitz at an emotional ceremony. “We are excited to present him with the Custom Los Angeles Dodgers a branded Performer Building wheelchair to support the independence he needs.”
Freddie Freeman will present a special wheelchair to Jason Ramirez at the pre-game ceremony at Dodger Stadium on June 2, 2025. At Dodger Stadium on June 2, 2025 (Getty Images)
The donations are made through the Dodgers, Freeman himself, and the Permville Foundation, and live like Lou, a nonprofit organization that provides support to those suffering from ALS and funds research for treatment.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, shocked the world over 85 years ago when he announced that he had diagnosed the diagnosis.
Gehrig is a six-time World Series champion, MLB Hall of Fame and is widely praised as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
The Freeman family will donate $1 million to the children’s hospital where his son was treated.
His historic 2,130 consecutive consecutive games ended mysteriously in May 1939 after voluntarily excluded himself from the team’s lineup due to undiagnosed illness. He will become the most famous American who is later diagnosed with ALS, and two weeks later he will say goodbye to the sport now known as the “luckiest man” speech.
“For the past two weeks you’ve been reading about bad breaks. But today I consider myself the lucky man on the surface of the planet,” Gehrig told a collection of media members and thousands of surprised fans at the former Yankee Stadium. “I may have been given a bad break, but I have so much to live.”
Lou Gehrig will be on display before giving a farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York on July 4, 1939. (Getty Images)
Gehrig died of debilitating illness on June 2, 1941, two years after his breakup. Since 2021, June 2 has been celebrated throughout the league as Rougrig Day in Major League Baseball.
On Tuesday, all MLB teams on the schedule wore a fourth-place patch on their jerseys in honor of Gehrig. His number is also retired by his only team, the New York Yankees.
This past Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of Gehrig’s historic succession of games.
As for local hero Jason Ramirez, there is a validated GoFundMe page set up to raise money in the fight against ALS.
