Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide No. 112

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide No. 112
Description:
Hank Gowdy, a baseball catcher for the Boston Braves, squats in right field at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts while holding his glove. His glove is hidden between his legs.
Creator:
Mann, Leslie
Date:
1922
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
Baseball
Baseball caps
Gowdy, Henry Morgan
Boston Braves
Catching
Catching Stance
Catching Signals
Braves Field, Boston, Massachusetts
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/16
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA).
CC BY-NC-SA icon
Publisher:
Springfield College
Language:
English
Notes:
In this lantern slide, Hank Gowdy, a catcher for the Boston Braves, is demonstrating some of the proper techniques for how to be a successful catcher. Since Mann created the slides, this image was most likely taken before the start of a game between the Braves and the Cardinals, the two teams Gowdy and Mann played for. Gowdy and Mann played together on the 1914 Miracle Braves team, so that may be why Mann chose Gowdy to be in some of his slides. In the slide, Gowdy demonstrates a proper catching stance, similar to the one Mann describes in his manual. The biggest thing this lantern slide is demonstrating is how to give a good signal to a pitcher. In his manual, Mann explains how signals must be hidden from coaches, because if a coach on the opposing team sees a signal, they can give a sign to the player batting and let them know what pitch they think the pitcher will be throwing. In this image, Gowdy's legs are completely blocking his hands, making it impossible for coaches on either side of him to know what signal, if any, he is giving to the pitcher. He is also assuming the full squat position, the proper position for a catcher. His knees appear to be close enough to shut out baseline coaches from seeing what signal he is giving the pitcher, another tactic for success Mann describes in his manual. Overall, this image appears to represent how to block a pitching signal so that only the pitcher can see it, a very important tactic for success in the major leagues.
Hank Morgan Gowdy was born on August 24th, 1889 in Columbus, Ohio. Gowdy was baseball catcher who played for the New York Giants and the Boston Braves during his career. Gowdy is notable for many reasons. Gowdy was a member of the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves season. This was arguably his best season as a pro. He was even considered by a lot of people to be the MVP of the World Series. In 1913, the Boston Braves finished in 5th place in their division, and weren't seen as a threat entering 1914. The Braves lived up to this until July 4th, as they were in last place in the division. However, the Braves played exceptionally well the rest of the season, eventually capturing first place on September 8th and winning the World Series, where they swept the heavily favored Athletics. In the World Series, Gowdy batted an incredible .545 and hit the only home run in the series. In Game 3, he hit a double in the 12th inning. After hitting the double, Leslie Mann pinch ran for him and Mann scored the winning run. Gowdy wasn't too successful other than this one incredible season. Gowdy was also the first active major league player to serve in a war, as he took a break from baseball and served in World War I. Gowdy also served in World War II, which occurred after he had retired from baseball. Gowdy is also known as the only player to receive more than 20 percent of the written votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame before 1960, and not ever get elected to the Hall of Fame. Gowdy probably had many failed attempts because he wasn't an exceptional player, but had career highlighting moments like the 1914 Braves and entering World War I. Gowdy is one of few players to be included on the slides that isn't a member of the St. Louis Cardinals or Cincinnati Reds, the two teams Mann played for during this time period.
Leslie Mann identifies the same player as Gowdy in slide 113 on page 27 of his manual titled the Fundamentals of Baseball.
Good condition;
This digital image is made from two separate digital scans; one scan of the lantern slide (reflective); one scan of the image (transparency); the two images were then combined in Photoshop to create the final image.
Lantern slide from the Leslie Mann baseball instruction course, "The Fundamentals of Baseball"
1. Womack, Graham. "When Hank Gowdy was a Popular Hall of Fame Candidate." The National Pastime Muesum, 12 Apr. 2015, [https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/when-hank-gowdy-was-popular-hall-fame-candidate]. Accessed 12 Oct. 2017. ___Internet Archive___. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171012181728/https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/when-hank-gowdy-was-popular-hall-fame-candidate]. 2. McMains, Carol, and Frank Ceresi. "Hank Gowdy." Society for American Baseball Research, [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/afac3842]. Accessed 12 Oct. 2017. ___Internet Archive___. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171012183113/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/afac3842].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-112-03
112