Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide No. 115

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide No. 115
Description:
Hank Gowdy, a catcher for the Boston Braves, squats in the outfield while holding his glove directly in front of his body turned inwards towards the left side of his body at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts. Gowdy's right hand rests on his right kneecap.
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/20
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:
The position of Hank Gowdy's hands on his leg means that he is giving the pitcher a combination signal. A combination signal means that Gowdy gives many signals back to back, and the pitcher looks for a specific one and knows that this is the type of pitch the catcher wants him to throw. For example, Gowdy would give four signals back to back, and the pitcher would know that the second one was the one Gowdy wanted, and he would throw that type of pitch. This is done to keep the hitters guessing at what type of pitch the pitcher plans on throwing. If the hitters catch on to what number signal to look for, Gowdy and the pitcher can change the location of Gowdy's hand on his knee, and the pitcher would look for a different signal number depending on Gowdy's hand location. This is all done to increase the success of the pitcher and keep the batter guessing. Gowdy is also demonstrating many of the correct catching stance techniques that Mann describes in his manual, as he keeps his feet forward about shoulder width apart while maintaining a slight bend in his knees.
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 player in slide 115 as Hank Gowdy 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-115-03
115