Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 263

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 263
Description:
William Southworth, an outfielder for the Boston Braves, stands in foul territory at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts. Southworth is holding the glove against the ground and there is a baseball located inside of it as he stares downward gazing at the ball with his feet spread about shoulder distance apart.
Creator:
Mann, Leslie
Date:
1920–1925
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
Baseball
Baseball fields
Baseball caps
Southworth, William Harold
Boston Braves
Fielding--Outfield
Fielding Stance
Braves Field, Boston, Massachusetts
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/123
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:
Southworth is demonstrating the proper way for outfielders to field ground balls hit to them in the outfield. This method is similar to infielders as outfielders want to position their body and glove so that the baseball rolls into the middle of the glove, or the pocket, which occurs in the image above. This allows a smoother transition from fielding to throwing, and lowers the chance of an error or the baseball falling out of the glove when the outfielder attempts to throw it. Southworth's eyes also stare downward at the baseball as he removes it from his glove. This is important because it means Southworth is keeping his eye on the baseball at all times. One thing that many players, especially outfielders, do is rush. If Southworth knows there are runners on base, he is going to want to get the ball into the infield as quickly as possible. Keeping his eyes on the ball helps lower the chances that he mishandles the baseball in his transition from catching to throwing, as this mishandle would cause an error. Southworth has also begun to turn his body, moving his left foot forward. This is done to help Southworth get in a throwing position and make the transition from fielding to throwing easier.
William Harold Southworth was born on March 9, 1893, in Harvard, Nebraska. He left school in his early teens taking a railroad job, but he played baseball on Sundays for a semipro league. In 1912, Southworth switched from being a catcher to an outfielder, as the first professional team he played for in 1912, the Portsmouth Cobblers, already had two catchers on their team. In 1913, he was purchased by the Cleveland Naps of the American League, but was sent to the Minor Leagues. In 1915, Southworth had an opportunity to play in the Major Leagues when Shoeless Joe Jackson was injured, but Southworth hit .220 and was sent back to the Minor Leagues. In 1918, he was called up to the Pittsburgh Pirates, which mainly occurred because of the United States involvement in World War 1. Southworth played well for the Pirates in 1919 and 1920, even leading the league in triples one year with 14. In 1921, the Braves traded for Southworth. He hit .308 in 1921, but he dislocated his knee in 1922 and barely played. In 1923, Southworth had a batting average of .319. He was traded to the Giants in 1923, but didn't get along with the manager John McGraw. In 1924, the Giants won the Pennant, but Southworth barely appeared in the World Series, which the Giants lost to the Washington Senators. In 1926, Southworth had the best season of his career. He started off hitting .442 in the first month, but McGraw still chose to trade him to the St. Louis Cardinals. Southworth continued to have the best year of his career on the Cardinals as he had many key home runs and hits and the team made it to the World Series against the Yankees. Southworth hit a clutch three run home run in Game 2 to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. The Cardinals eventually won the series. Southworth, however, would never match his 1926 season's success as he suffered a rib injury in 1927. Southworth is much more well-known for his coaching career than his playing career. In 1929, he had his first major league coaching appearance for the Cardinals at age 36, but he struggled considerably and was moved to the Minor League coaching staff in 1930. Southworth's wife was constantly sick and eventually passed away at just 42, leading to Southworth turning to drinking and him having very inconsistent coaching seasons in the Minors. In 1940, Southworth made it back to coaching in the Major Leagues for the Cardinals. He led the team to second place and won Manager of the Year in 1941, and would lead the Cardinals to the World Series title win in 1942 over the Yankees. He would make it back to the World Series in 1943 where the Cardinals lost to the Yankees, and again in 1944 when the Cardinals beat the Browns. In 1945, Southworth's son died in World War 2, creating more personal issues for him and leading to him to redevelop his drinking problem. He signed a contract with the Braves in 1946, and immediately revitalized the team, leading them to the Pennant in 1948. He chose to sign with the Braves because the contract he was being offered was much larger than anything that the Cardinals were offering him. The 1948 Pennant run is considered to be the greatest triumph for Southworth in his career, as there was only one future hall of famer on his team. Southworth had issues with rebellious players after 1948, leading to a team restructuring. However, Southworth would retire from the Major Leagues in 1950 anyway when the change didn't help him. Southworth was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 for his tremendous coaching abilities.
Leslie Mann identifies the player as William Southworth on page 49 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"
Daly, Jon. "Billy Southworth." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b8be8c57 ]. Accessed 15 May 2018. ___Internet Archive___ [http://web.archive.org/web/20180515163636/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b8be8c57 }.
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-263-03
263