Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 231

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 231
Description:
Arthur Fletcher, a shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, stands with his feet in close together and his glove placed aganist the dirt ground as he looks downward towards his feet.
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
Baseball fields
Fletcher, Arthur
Philadelphia Phillies
Fielding--Shortstop
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/92
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:
This lantern slide is similar to lantern slide 230, where Rabbit Maranville, a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, demonstrates the proper way to field a ground ball. In this image, Fletcher demonstrates an improper way of fielding a ground ball. For the most part, Fletcher maintains decent form in fielding a ground ball, as he keeps his back straight and looks down at the ball. Looking down at the ball will allow Fletcher to remove the baseball from his glove more smoothly and make a cleaner throw to the base the runner is running towards to, increasing the chances that the baseball reaches the base in time and decreasing the chances that Fletcher makes an error on the throw. However, Fletcher's feet remain too close together. Also, Fletcher's glove appears to be located practically in between his feet, which would make it much harder for Fletcher to transition from fielding to throwing because he is not in a comfortable position. Fletcher should spread his feet apart more and place his glove farther away from his feet. This will increase Fletcher's form and his fielding ability.
Arthur Fletcher was born on January 5th, 1885 in Collinsville, Illinois. From a young age, Fletcher was a huge fan of the game of baseball and he used to travel over an hour to games to play in competitive leagues. However, his parents didn't approve of his dream of becoming a major league baseball player, and Fletcher went to college for business, receiving a degree in stenography. In 1908, Fletcher's boss allowed him to join the Dallas of the Texas League for baseball since work was slow and promised him he could return to work after the season was over. The Texas League was a minor league baseball league during this time period. While playing for the Texas League, Fletcher's team scrimmaged against the New York Giants, a professional baseball team. The manager of the Giants at the time was John McGraw and he was a very feisty and tough man. Fletcher, unlike most if not all minor league players, wasn't intimidated by the Giants and refused to back down when they threatened him. McGraw took a liking to Fletcher as they had similar personalities, and McGraw eventually signed Fletcher to the Giants and he became a starter for the team in 1911. Fletcher was a solid fielder in the Deadball Era and posted average hitting numbers throughout his career. However, Fletcher often seemed to crack under pressure, as he had a career batting average of .191 in the World Series and made 12 errors over 25 World Series games. Fletcher made it to four World Series’ with the Giants, but didn't win any of them. In 1920, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, playing for the team in 1920 and 1922 (he took 1921 off due to the death of his father and brother). He eventually became the manager of the Phillies in 1923. In a sense of irony, the Giants went on to win the 1921 and 1922 World Series’ without Fletcher. While managing the Phillies, the team struggled tremendously under his management, and tired of losing, Fletcher left the team, becoming a coach for the New York Yankees. He enjoyed tremendous success there as the Yankees won 9 World Series championships over his time as a coach. Fletcher often turned down opportunities to coach or manage other teams because of his success with the Yankees.
The stadium appears to be Baker Bowl, and the player appears to be standing around the position of the short stop. Because of this, I identified the player in slide 231 as the shortstop for the Phillies, which would be Fletcher.
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"
Gordon, Peter M. "Art Fletcher." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6032f303 ]. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018. _____Internet Archive___. [ http://web.archive.org/web/20180122181705/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6032f303 ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-231-03
231