Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 176

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 176
Description:
Bill Doak, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, stands in left field at Sportsman Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Doak's rear left foot remains flat on the ground as his throwing arm moves downwards in front of his body, which in turn is causing Doak's entire body to bend downward.
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 cards
Baseball fields
Doak, William Leopold
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitching
Pitching--Follow Through
Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/125
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 demonstrates an improper method of following through after throwing the baseball. After throwing the baseball, Doak needs to be prepared in case the hitter hits the baseball into the field of play. It is possible, for example, that the hitter could hit a line drive right back at Doak and he would need to be prepared to field the baseball. Doak could improve his ability to be prepared to field this baseball in two ways. First off, he could bring his rear foot forward so that it is on a level line with his other foot. This would center his body and would allow him to bring his glove to the center of his body as well. He would be able to move his glove quickly from the center of his body to field any line drives or ground balls hit towards him. Second, Doak should keep his eyes forward rather than on the ground. From the ground, Doak cannot see anything going on in the field at all. Doak would have no idea if the batter hit the baseball, and if the batter hit the baseball, Doak would have no idea where he hit the baseball.
William Leopold Doak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 28, 1891. Doak was a very honest and moral man who taught a Sunday school class. Doak played for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Brooklyn Robins during his career. However, he mainly played for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1914, while on the Cardinals, one of his coaches suggested Doak try the spitball, and Doak became one of the top pitchers in the league after beginning to use the spitball. Doak would actually become known as Spittin' Bill Doak because of this. When the pitch was outlawed in 1920, Doak was one of 17 pitchers who was allowed to continue throwing the spitball until their career was over. Doak has the second most shutouts thrown in Cardinals history with 32, only trailing Bob Gibson. Doak also helped design baseball gloves, suggesting a web be placed between the first finger and thumb to create a natural pocket. These gloves that Doak suggested were revolutionary and are still used in baseball today. After retiring, Doak moved to Florida where he opened a candy shop and coached baseball for a high school in Florida.
Leslie Mann identifies the player in slide 176 as Doak on page 36 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"
Steinberg, Steve. "Bill Doak." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/1359e4e2 ]. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017. ____Internet Archive____. [ https://web.archive.org/web/20171024171207/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/1359e4e2 ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-176-03
176