Reflection
What did you enjoy about this project?
I enjoyed looking back at all the former Trinity baseball players who have come before me, seeing their stats and reading stories about them. Seeing their names in Trinity's record books next to names of coaches and players that I know was very interesting and compelling.
What surprised you about this project?
I was surprised at how much information the Trinity library had. It was impressive how organized and well stocked the Trinitonian and Mirage archives were and how much information could be found in them. It is a resource that I did not know I had access to prior to this project. The amount of sources and information they have both in physical and digital form is truly impressive.
What was the most challenging aspect of the project, and how did you manage it?
For me the most challenging aspect was finding a suitable interview. I had a few leads early on, but was never able to get my hands on reliable contact information. This lasted awhile until I found Paul Batista's infromation, which ened up working out perfectly as he is a sports management professor at Texas A&M. Another issue I ran into was finding a useful scholarly secondary source. Unfortunately there has not been a lot written on small school collegiate baseball in the 1970s. Through persistent searches was able to eventually find a book about Trinity by Douglas Brackenridge which had valuable content in it.
If you could start over, what would you do differently?
I would likely start the interview process earlier, in order to be able to get in touch with multiple former players. My interview with Paul Batista was likely the most insightful piece of research, so if I were able to reach out to a few more former players I likely would have pciked up some more interesting stories and quotes to help my research.
What did you learn about history and/or the historical process through this project?
I think the thing I learned most about history and the historical process is that history is usually preserved more than we think it is. Like I mentioned about the library archives, we have access to a vast array of historical primary sources that we may not think we do. If we simply look into it, the amount of information that is out there is staggering.
What did you learn through this project that can be applied to life outside the classroom?
I learned a lot about how people from different times can connect through sport. As I read about Trinity's tough losses in the playoffs I could imagine being in those situation so clearly, and knew the exact feeling of the players on the team. Even though sports and society have greatly changed throughout the years, there is something about the sporting experience that connects everyone who has participated in sports, despite the time or place.