Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 221

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 221
Description:
Arthur Fletcher, a shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, throws a baseball underhanded to second baseman Goldie Rapp, another player for the Philadelphia Phillies, at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania. Rapp extends his glove out forward in front of him towards Fletcher as he stands with both of his feet behind the base. There is an unidentified person standing in the outfield behind them.
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 caps
Baseball fields
Fletcher, Arthur
Rapp, Joseph Aloysius
Philadelphia Phillies
Fielding
Fielding--Second base
Fielding--Shortstop
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/163
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:
In this lantern slide, Goldie Rapp is demonstrating the proper way for a second baseman to field a low thrown baseball thrown to him by the shortstop in an attempt to turn a double play. Rapp's number one priority is to field the baseball cleanly and ensure that the baserunner attempting to reach second base doesn't reach the base safely. In an ideal world, Rapp would be able to turn a double play, but if he is forced to adjust his body to field a low thrown baseball like he is here, then he must make sure that he eliminates the baserunner attempting to reach second base by tagging the base, and his last priority would be the baserunner attempting to reach first base. A baserunner on second is a lot more dangerous than a baserunner on first base because second base is a lot closer to home plate than first is. Rapp has devoted all of his attention to ensuring that the baserunner reaching second is eliminated by keeping his body in a comfortable position and his eye on the ball until it hits his glove. If there was still time, Rapp could attempt to throw the baseball to first base and turn a double play after fielding the baseball and tagging second base, but if he doesn't have enough time, Rapp did the right thing by adjusting his body and making the play at second base.
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.
Goldie Rapp was actually a third baseman, but appears to have been used by Mann in this slide to demonstrating the fielding of double plays.
At the beginning of his book titled the Fundamentals of Baseball, Leslie Mann identifies all of the players who appear in his slides. Only four players are members of the Phillies, whose stadium is pictured in this slide, including their shortstop Arthur Fletcher and their third baseman Goldie Rapp. Fletcher appears to be playing his natural position in this slide while it appears the person on second base is Goldie Rapp based on facial recognition.
Good condition;
This digital image is made from two separate 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"
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-221-03
221