Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 91

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 91
Description:
Hi Myers, an outfielder and first baseman for the Brooklyn Robins, slides head first back into first base after the pitcher decided to attempt to pick him off first base by throwing the baseball to the first baseman. The first baseman, who appears to be a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, stands with his right foot on the edge of first base and has placed his glove in front of the base as he prepares to attempt to tag Myers with the baseball before he can return to the bag. There is another left handed fielder standing in the background near second base.
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
Baseballs
Myers, Henry Harrison
Brooklyn Robins
Sliding
Fielding--First base
Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York City
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/154
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:
Myers is demonstrating the head dive slide that was used by many players. This type of slide can be beneficial, but also very dangerous for players to use. The major benefit of sliding head first is that it is quicker to slide head first than it is to slide using the legs because the arms are closer to the bag than the legs are. Sliding head first is quicker than sliding with the legs because when you slide with the legs, your body weight must be shifted to the lower half of your body. Sliding head first can therefore be appropriate when you are leading off first and the pitcher attempts to pick you off by throwing to the first baseman, as it is the quickest way to return to the base and there isn't a lot of time to react. If Myers had chosen to slide with his legs first, he would have had to shift his body weight to his legs and then slide. To add to this, his legs begin farther away from the base than his arms do so it would take even longer to return to the base. Pick off throws are quick especially since the distance between the pitcher and the first baseman isn't that far so sliding head first is the best way to ensure that you beat the baseball back to first base. Sliding head first, however, can also be very dangerous. Starting a slide with the arms leaves the body and the face unprotected and can increase the risk of injury. In general, there are certain instances, like in this slide, where diving head first can be appropriate for the runner, but there are other instances where diving head first can cause severe injury to the player. Sliding head first should therefore only be used sparingly.
Hi Myers, Henry Harrison Myers, was born April 27, 1889, in East Liverpool, Ohio. He spent most of his career playing for the Brooklyn Robins, but also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds. He was known as a speedy outfielder with a unique running style. From 1909 to 1914, Myers was a member of the Robins, but generally played in the Minor Leagues until a new manager was hired by the Robins in 1915. This new manager liked Myers hustle and alertness, and Myers became the starting center fielder for the Robins in 1915, a position he would hold for the next 8 seasons. In 1916, the Robins won the Pennant and Myers hit an inside the park home run in the World Series. However, the Robins would not end up winning the Series. After the season, Myers, who wanted a contract raise, pretended to own a large stock farm claiming that the farm would produce more money than baseball could. However, he had no stock farm. He got word that Charlie Ebbets was coming to visit the farm, and he borrowed animals from all his neighbors to convince Ebbets that he actually was serious about the farm. Ebbets decided to offer Myers the contract Myers desired after he saw the farm. In 1919 and 1920, Myers led the league in triples, and had his two best seasons in the Majors. The Robins returned to the Pennant in 1920, but lost again. In 1923, the Cardinals wanted to trade Jack Fournier for an outfielder, and Branch Rickey, the Cardinals manager, told the Robins that he would trade them Fournier for either Myers or Zack Wheat, another Robins outfielder, and that the Robins could choose which one to trade him. The Robins chose Myers, which proved to be the better choice for the Robins, as Wheat continued to hit well through 1927, while Myers hit .300 in 1923 and then hit poorly in 1924 before retiring in 1925. One interesting fact about Myers is that he tagged up regardless of if he had to, which caused a lot of anger from many of his managers. There were times that Myers could have scored, but his decision to tag up caused him to lose valuable time that prevented him from scoring.
Myers was known as Hy or Hi Myers during his life.
Leslie Mann identifies the player in slide 91 as Myers on page 23 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 (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"
Macht, Norman. "Hy Myers." Society for American Baseball Research, [ sabr.org/bioproj/person/dca1fee6] . Accessed 6 June 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [http://web.archive.org/web/20190207174921/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dca1fee6].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-091-03
091