Victoria Vitale
N. Bhandari
English Composition 1030
19 October 2018
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Lou Gehrig, nicknamed “the Iron Horse,” was an American baseball first baseman who played his entire professional career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, from 1923 until 1939. Unfortunately on July 4, 1939, this career had to come to a close. Gehrig stood front and center at Yankee Stadium to deliver his “farewell to baseball” speech after recently being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His speech was targeted toward his baseball fans, his teammates, team faculty, and any person that has been similarly affected by ALS. Gehrig delivers this speech in purpose of showing the world how strong willed and fearless an individual can be when having to face adversity, and to explain to his audience that his life isn’t overshadowed by his disease. He also powerfully expressed his gratitude towards his family and his team for always looking out for him and supporting him throughout his baseball career, and now for helping him deal with his ALS. Gehrig incorporates multiple strategies in his speech to effectively deliver it to his audience and to touch the hearts of all of his fans by inspiring them to stay positive even after a tragic event.
“I have been in ballparks for seventeen years now”, was one of Gehrig’s opening sentences to his loving crowd. Gehrig immediately gains trust from his audience by establishing his credibility as a respected, well-known baseball player. Who wouldn’t want to listen to, or believe what an incredibly famous major league baseball player has to say? Gehrig also mentions the New York Giants in his speech. “When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift, that’s something!” Here, his credibility is even further established by showing how important he must be to be receiving a gift from the New York Giants. This also enables his audience to trust him because most people probably had no idea that the Giants sent him a gift until he mentioned it in his speech. In most cases, this statement would be hard to believe. I mean, come on, it’s the New York Giants! But since Gehrig is who he is, the audience knows that what he is saying is true.
Always known as an individual who could persevere through anything, Gehrig indirectly tells his audience that this battle is going to be one that he simply cannot win, and one that is going to prevent him from continuing to pursue his baseball career. His audience connects to him through this by seeing a respected man, husband, and baseball player still find the good in life after battling consecutive hardships. Gehrig also places strong emphasis on his family throughout his speech, as he constantly mentions how much he appreciates the love and support they’ve provided for him. He explains how his wife has been a “tower of strength” for him throughout his entire career. Gehrig is also granted the audience’s sympathy as he talks about his disease. He ends his speech by saying, “I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break but I’ve got an awful lot to live for”. This automatically makes his audience feel bad for him, due to the fact that he has to give up playing the game he loves over a situation he cannot control.
Gehrig speaks with a very optimistic voice while delivering his speech. He constantly reminds his audience how lucky he is to be living the life he has, despite the unfortunance of being diagnosed with ALS. This is obvious due to his repetition of the same positive phrase over and over again. Gehrig says, “Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.” Again, he reminds his audience that he is grateful for all the opportunities he’s had in his life and that he still has a lot to live for and appreciate, including his love of the game.
He also expresses his gratitude by use of a rhetorical question. “Wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine looking men as they’re standing in uniform in this ballpark today? Gehrig didn’t respond to his diagnosis by considering himself unlucky, instead he looks around and appreciates everyone and everything that has stumbled across him along his journey of baseball. He knows his loved ones are going to be there for him through dealing with his disease, and for that he is grateful.
Gehrigs use of diction also makes it easy for the audience to understand exactly what he is trying to say. He uses words like “lucky” and “blessing” and “honor” to project to his audience the fact that he is still being optimistic and looking at the big picture despite his unfortunate diagnosis. Although he loved the game of baseball, he realizes that there are more important aspects of life to be considered, such as his family and the opportunities that were granted to him. As heartbreaking as it must’ve been for him to give up the game he loves, the love and support from his loved ones is a more accurate measure of his happiness and fortune. Most people don’t get nearly the amount of opportunities that Gehrig was able to have, so the fact that he even got to experience what he experienced makes him the “luckiest guy on the face of the earth”.
Though Gehrig begins his speech by effectively touching the hearts of his audience by saying his farewell, he more importantly encourages
them to always look at the positive aspects of life no matter what happens, and reminds them that there is always a lot to live for. The audience can see the pain that exists in Gehrig’s heart; however, his shift from a “bad break” to “i’m the luckiest guy on the face of the earth” makes the audience sympathize for him yet respect him. Gehrig couldn’t have more seriously driven home the point that life is literally what you make it. He inspires thousands of people by turning unfortunate situations into positive ones.
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