Hunter Has Lou Gehrig's Disease

Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter has been told he has Lou Gehrig's disease and will begin taking medication Monday to try to slow down the fatal illness.

Hunter went to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore for tests last week after experiencing difficulties with motor skills.

Doctors there confirmed fears that he has amytrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive, ultimately fatal neurological condition named for Gehrig, the New York Yankees Hall of Famer who died from the disease in 1941 at age 37.

"At Johns Hopkins, they told me I had Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS," Hunter told the New York Post Sunday. "They are going to put me on some medicine to try to keep it stable or slow it down a little bit."

Hunter began noticing weakness in his arms in March. The 52-year-old Hunter saw doctors all summer with no conclusive diagnosis.

"I've got no strength in my arms and my hands," Hunter said last week. "I can't do the routine things like button a shirt anymore."

Hunter has been unable to even toss a baseball. Hunter won 224 games in a 15-year career with the Yankees and Athletics, and won the AL Cy Young Award in 1974.

"I first started to notice something was wrong last March when I was hunting," Hunter said. "I started having trouble doing things with my right arm."