Andy Hartung

Blog Post 5

At this point in my journey through research and beginning my paper I feel that I am in a pretty good spot. However, much more research is going to be a must for me, the sources I have been finding give me very specific information that I am unable to write a significant amount about and there my project may require more sources than I had previously anticipated. The big research question that I had aimed to answer was how Hank Aaron’s time spent with the Eau Claire Bears had helped to develop him into the player he would eventually become. The best answer I can formulate as of now is a quote by Aaron in “A Summer up North.” Aaron states, “Eau Claire was a great stepping stone. If people had not accepted me in Eau Claire, my career would have stumbled a little bit. I don’t know what would have happened to me in baseball.” I may have to alter my research question, the one I currently have might be a bit too specific. There isn’t much documentation of Aaron’s time spent in Eau Claire because it was only a minor league team and nobody really knew he was going to become as good as he was. However I could also try and look at local newspaper articles of that time and see if they have any articles on Aaron and his Eau Claire experience.

If I were to alter my research question I would consider looking more at the history of Aaron’s life, when he started playing baseball and what it was like for him growing up. I could also look at events in his life that were significant to him and who was his baseball inspiration. I know his younger brother also played for the Eau Claire Bears so I could look at their childhood life together in terms of baseball.

Andy Hartung

Blog Post 4

                This next source I will be taking a look at is a very specific source and is a source that I probably won’t be able to extract too much information from. Nonetheless I still think this is an interesting source that will give me some solid information on Aaron’s beliefs and standards post baseball career. The source is, “The Courage to Succeed,” it is a speech given by Hank Aaron recorded by the Media Development Center of The University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire. The speech was recorded live on January 25, 1982.  This source is where I actually generated the second part of my research question from. So obviously this speech will be the main component in answering that question.

                Rhetorically speaking I don’t see why there would be any sort of bias in this, this is a man’s belief, the only way I could think of any bias is if whoever was in charge of editing the video cut out some of Aaron’s opinions which I find very unlikely. This is kind of a unique source in terms that I can’t describe information about the source; the source is simply UWEC, the college’s visual editing team essentially.

                In the speech Aaron talks about some things he experienced playing for the Bears and also while playing in the major leagues. He specifically talks about how it’s about the money for the people in the big leagues. The argument or point Aaron is trying to get across is to challenge his audience is to find solutions to problems of selfishness throughout the world.

                My response to this speech is inspiration; Aaron does a good job in his speech motivating his audience. He describes the right ways to be successful and how to not be so selfish to make the world a better place. It’s quite difficult to doubt anything that comes from a man of this stature, obviously he knows what he is talking about when being successful, is his perhaps in the top three of the greatest baseball players of all time. I agree with his points on being successful, that one does not have to be selfish in order to obtain success.

                I am hoping with a few more sources I can tie them all together and try to answer my research questions. I would like to explore in further detail Aaron’s time spent in Eau Claire. However, I also wouldn’t mind focusing on the bigger picture of his life including his time spent in the major leagues. There will be endless sources about his major league baseball career so that will make source searching easier.