Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 124

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 124
Description:
Eddie Ainsmith, a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, stands holding his throwing arm out in front of his body around chest level. Ainsmith's back right foot has begun to lift off the ground while his front left foot remains planted as Ainsmith gazes forward.
Creator:
Mann, Leslie
Creator:
Erker Bros. Optical Co., St. Louis Mo.,
Date:
1920–1925
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
Baseball
Throwing
Ainsmith, Edward Wilbur
St. Louis Cardinals
Bluff Pegging
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/29
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:
Ainsmith demonstrates the correct arm motion that a catcher should use for bluff pegging. Bluff pegging refers to when the catcher pretends to throw the baseball to second base in an attempt to pick off a baserunner. Ainsmith does the exact same thing he would do if he really was attempting pegging, as he brings his arm out in front of his body and motions his arm forward like he is going to throw the baseball.
Edward Wilbur Ainsmith was born on February 4, 1890, in the Russian Empire. Up until 2013, Ainsmith is one of only five Major League players to be born in Russia. However, Ainsmith moved to the United States at a very young age and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He originally wanted to be a boxer but his parents disproved of this, so Ainsmith instead chose to pursue baseball. He became a member of the Washington Senators when he was 20 years old in 1910. He spent his first nine seasons on the Senators, hitting no higher than .226 and only batting more than 300 times once in these nine seasons. Of course, this was during the Dead Ball Era so these stats aren’t as concerning as they would be if Ainsmith played baseball today. Ainsmith was violent both on and off the field and developed an unfavorable reputation for multiple reasons. Ainsmith constantly argued with the referees and was thrown out of games, and was arrested for assaulting a man on the streets. However, Clark Griffith, the manager of the Senators, was able to get him out of the jail sentence. Ainsmith was drafted for World War 1 but refused service. He argued that baseball was a job that should be excused from military service, a claim that was eventually rejected. However, Griffith was able to get Ainsmith to be part of a shipyard workers team in Baltimore rather than him being shipped overseas for the war. This didn’t help his reputation as Ainsmith was viewed as taking the easy way out. Ainsmith was known as Walter Johnson's preferred catcher. Johnson was a famous pitcher for the Senators, and he raved about Ainsmith. Ainsmith finished his career with the Cardinals until 1923 and the New York Giants in 1924. However, he was released during the 1924 season, ironic enough since the Giants went on to win the pennant. In 1924, Ainsmith took 28 men to Japan, and then in 1925, he partnered with Mary O'Gara to tour Japan with the Philadelphia Bobbies as a way to promote women's baseball. There were high expectations for the trip, as the team would compete against college aged Japanese men. The trip was expected to generate high levels of income for everyone involved. The ages of the members of the team ranged from 13-20, and included Edith Ruth, Nella Shank, and Leona Kearns. Ainsmith would also play on the team as the catcher, making their team coed. They departed for Japan on a one way trip with the return home date unknown. The trip was a financial disaster, as two of the Japanese sponsors never paid anything and the third went bankrupt. The team was also horrendous, failing to win any games. Ainsmith also clashed with O'Gara, and the two separated as Ainsmith and Earl Hamilton (a former pitcher for the Pirates) took Ruth, Shank, and Kearns to Korea to continue playing baseball, enlisting the help of four locals to finish the team. Since everyone was broke, there was no way for anyone to purchase a ride back to the United States. O’Gara begged for money and received shelter for her and the remaining members of the team in Japan from Harry Sanborn. Sanborn eventually convinced a man to donate the money as a gift so the women could return home, and O'Gara and the Bobbies made it home safely. However, Ainsmith and the remaining girls were still in Korea. Ainsmith was able to raise enough money to get him and his wife (who came for the trip) home safely, but not enough money for the other three girls. Ainsmith and his wife returned home, leaving the girls behind, who eventually took refuge with Sanborn as well. Eventually, word got to their parents of the horrendous situation that had occurred, as communication before then had been inconsistent and inaccurate, and the parents paid for the girls to return home. However, Kearns was washed overboard and died when the Empress of Asia was hit by a huge wave. Ainsmith is still considered partly responsible since he willingly left three teenage girls stranded alone and broke in Korea.
I used facial recognition to identify the player in slide 124 as Eddie Ainsmith.
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"
Gregorich, Barbara. "Dropping the Pitch: Leona Kearns, Eddie Ainsmith and the Philadelphia Bobbies." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/research/dropping-pitch-leona-kearns-eddie-ainsmith-and-philadelphia-bobbies ]. Accessed 22 May 2018. ___Internet Archive___ [ http://web.archive.org/save/https://sabr.org/research/dropping-pitch-leona-kearns-eddie-ainsmith-and-philadelphia-bobbies ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-124-03
124