The House that Words Built: How Language Shapes Baseball Legends

This study explores how the language of newspapers and magazines helped shape the legends of baseball stars, such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and others. Certain techniques and approaches are often used, across a variety of players who made their mark in different decades, crafted by talented writers and speakers. The purpose of these approaches is to engrave or imprint words and images in the readers‘ minds—ones they will remember in positive, often inspiring ways. These techniques include alliteration; ―allness‖ orientations, especially the use of superlatives; similes and metaphors; and syntax. This paper next examines larger issues that function at whole-discourse levels, including introductions, point of view, contrast and conflict, and language as an accurate (or inaccurate) map of reality.