Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 99

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 99
Description:
Branch Rickey, the manager for the St. Louis Cardinals who is coaching third base, gives the baserunner approaching second or third base the signal that they cannot advance to any further bases. Rickey stands in the infield in his third base coach's box but in foul territory when giving this signal.
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
Baseball caps
Baseball fields
Rickey, Wesley Branch
St. Louis Cardinals
Coaching
Base Running
Coaching Signals
Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/78
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 slide, Rickey has judged that the baseball is too far away from the base for a play to be made on the runner by the time they arrive to the base. However, he has also judged that the baseball isn't far enough away where it is possible to advance another base. If the baserunner tried to advance to another base, Rickey has judged that the runner would be unsuccessful, and would be thrown out. Even though sliding is beneficial to the game of baseball, there is no reason for a baserunner to slide on a base if the ball isn’t going to be thrown to the base. Based on this information, Rickey gives the signal for the baserunner to stay on the base they are currently running to. This signal could be both to a baserunner approaching second or third base. Here, the importance of coaching is shown again because the coach wants the baserunner to focus on running, and they make the best judgements based on the current location of the ball to decide whether the baserunner should keep running, or in this case, stop on the base they are currently approaching.
Wesley Branch Rickey was born December 20, 1881, in Flat, Ohio. He was named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist religion, and he lived in a deeply religious household. He went to Ohio Wesleyan University, becoming a coach at the college, and briefly played in the Major Leagues, appearing in 120 games over four seasons. However, Rickey’s appearances were brief since he refused to play baseball on Sundays because of his religion and since he also refused to play until he finished his college coaching duties. In addition to this, he was known as a poor hitter and an even worse catcher. His poor arm resulted in the Washington Senators stealing 13 consecutive bases when he was the catcher. Rickey eventually gave up during the game and didn't even attempt to throw the baseball to the base that the runners were attempting to steal. After almost dying from a severe case of tuberculosis, Rickey went to law school and received a degree, but only had one client and accepted a job as a general manager and scout for the St. Louis Browns. Rickey moved to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1917 becoming president and manager, but gave up the presidency shortly after receiving it. Rickey was not a good manager for the team, as they struggled tremendously with him until he was removed in 1925. His ability to manage was questioned even more since Rogers Hornsby led the team to the Pennant in 1926 as a player coach. Rickey, however, thrived in the front office throughout the rest of his career, remaining with the Cardinals until the early 1940's. He is most famously known however for signing Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player, to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. Overall, Rickey is in the Hall of Fame today partly because of his front office abilities but mainly due to being responsible for the signing of Jackie Robinson and breaking the color barrier, despite a poor baseball coaching and playing career.
I used facial recognition to identify the player in slide 99 as Branch Rickey.
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 image were then combined in Photoshop to create the final image.
Lantern slide from the Leslie Mann baseball instruction course, "The Fundamentals of Baseball"
McCue, Andy. "Branch Rickey." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6d0ab8f3] . Accessed 5 Mar. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [ http://web.archive.org/web/20180305181504/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6d0ab8f3 ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-099-03
099