Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 67

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 67
Description:
Ray Blades, an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, attempts to round first base after hitting a baseball into the outfield. Instead of running in a straight line from home plate to first base, Blades has moved outward into foul territory as he approaches the base. Jack Fournier, a first baseman for the Cardinals, appears to be watching Blades from the pitcher’s mound as Blades attempts to round first base.
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 fields
Baseball caps
Blades, Francis Raymond
Fournier, Frank Jack
St. Louis Cardinals
Base Running
Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/118
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:
Blades is demonstrating the proper techniques for a base runner to follow as they approach first base. Instead of running in a straight path from home plate to first base, Blades has swerved outside the first base line in an attempt to round first base. Rounding occurs when the base runner believes they can attempt to reach extra bases. What that means is that Blades has probably hit the baseball into the outfield, meaning that there isn't going to be a play at first base. If Blades had hit the ball into the infield, he would run in a straight line as quick as possible in an attempt to reach first base before the throw from the infielder did, but if Blades hits the ball into the outfield and believes there is a possibility he can turn his hit into a double or even a triple, then Blades should do what he did here. This is the easiest and most successful way for a batter to approach first base in an attempt to run extra bases. If Blades ran in a straight path from home plate to first base, then it would be more difficult for him to make a smooth transition when he began to run to second base. However, if Blades does what he does in the image above, then he would step on the base at an angle and could immediately continue running towards second base, which would save time and would allow Blades to keep his momentum and speed constant. This could be the difference from Blades reaching second base successfully or being thrown out at second base. If Blades ran in a straight line towards first base, he would either have to slow down his momentum and stop and then start running again once he reached the base, or he would have to run through first base and start curving his body outward towards the outfield after stepping on first base. Both of these would take valuable time, and could be the difference in Blades reaching second base successfully. Therefore, Blades demonstrates the proper way for a base runner to approach first base if they are attempting to reach second base.
Ray Blades was born August 6, 1896 in Mount Vernon, Illinois. In 1919, Blades was playing for a semipro team in Vernon, Illinois. The team played against the St. Louis Cardinals, defeating them 2-1, and after the game, the Cardinals manager decided to sign three players to the team, including Blades. In 1922, he was called up to the Cardinals team after playing in the Minor Leagues. Blades was originally a second baseman, but upon joining the Cardinals, he had to compete against Rogers Hornsby for the position. In 1922, Austin McHenry died tragically from a brain tumor, opening up a spot in the outfield, and this plus the fact that he was poor infielder who had made 137 errors over the course of three seasons in the Minor Leagues as a second baseman allowed Blades to transition to being an outfielder for the Cardinals. Blades worked very hard to improve his fielding and eventually became one of the best outfielders for the Cardinals. His success was short lived, however, as in 1926, Blades badly bruised his kneecap after getting a spike stuck in a chicken wire fence along the wall of the outfield. Blades climbed it in an attempt to catch a fly ball. An interesting note about this story is why there was a chicken wire fence located in the outfield at all, as that would seem to be an unnecessary increased cause of injury. It was eventually revealed that this incident caused Blades to tear ligaments in his knee, requiring surgery. Blades never was the same player after his surgery, losing his speed and power, and moved to the Minor Leagues in 1929. Blades was known for constantly being thrown out of games and being given fines because of his abusive language towards umpires.
In a different manual created by Leslie Mann titled Baseball Fundamentals, Leslie Mann identifies the baserunner as Ray Blades. Link to manual: https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/19797 . I used facial recognition to identify the player standing at the pitcher's mound as Fournier.
Fair condition;
There is a tiny crack located on the left corner of the image.
This digital image is made from two separate digital scans; one scan of the lantern slide (reflective); one scan of the image (transparecy); 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"
Wolinsky, Russell. "Ray Blades." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/92a8ae6f ]. Accessed 27 Feb. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [ http://web.archive.org/web/20180227153746/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/92a8ae6f ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-067-03
067