Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 25

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 25
Description:
Hank Gowdy, a catcher for the Boston Braves, is in the process of completing his follow through after swinging a baseball bat while standing at a practice warm up plate in the outfield at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts. His left foot is flat on the ground while only the toe of his left foot is in the air as he prepares to step forward with his left foot.
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
Baseballs
Gowdy, Henry Morgan
Boston Braves
Batting
Batting Swing--Follow Through
Braves Field, Boston, Massachusetts
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/179
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:
Gowdy is demonstrating the correct way to follow through when swinging at a baseball. Even after making contact with the baseball, Gowdy has continued to follow through completely. This is important because following through completely rather than stopping your swing directly after making contact with the baseball will allow more power and control on the swing. Even though Gowdy would still be able to make contact with the ball if he didn't complete his follow through process, his ability to hit the ball would be diminished by a decision to stop a swing right after making contact with the ball because Gowdy isn't completing a full swing if he does this, which will severely affect the power behind his swing. Gowdy instead has completed a full circling of his arms here, which is ideal.
Hank Morgan Gowdy was born on August 24th, 1889 in Columbus, Ohio. Gowdy was baseball catcher who played for the New York Giants and the Boston Braves during his career. Gowdy is notable for many reasons. Gowdy was a member of the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves season. This was arguably his best season as a pro. He was even considered by a lot of people to be the MVP of the World Series. In 1913, the Boston Braves finished in 5th place in their division, and weren't seen as a threat entering 1914. The Braves lived up to this until July 4th, as they were in last place in the division. However, the Braves played exceptionally well the rest of the season, eventually capturing first place on September 8th and winning the World Series, where they swept the heavily favored Athletics. In the World Series, Gowdy batted an incredible .545 and hit the only home run in the series. In Game 3, he hit a double in the 12th inning. After hitting the double, Leslie Mann pinch ran for him and Mann scored the winning run. Gowdy wasn't too successful other than this one incredible season. Gowdy was also the first active major league player to serve in a war, as he took a break from baseball and served in World War I. Gowdy also served in World War II, which occurred after he had retired from baseball. Gowdy is also known as the only player to receive more than 20 percent of the written votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame before 1960, and not ever get elected to the Hall of Fame. Gowdy probably had many failed attempts because he wasn't an exceptional player, but had career highlighting moments like the 1914 Braves and entering World War I. Gowdy is one of few players to be included on the slides that isn't a member of the St. Louis Cardinals or Cincinnati Reds, the two teams Mann played for during this time period.
Leslie Mann identifies the player in Slide 25 as Hank Gowdy in his manual titled the Fundamentals of Baseball.
Fair condition;
There are a couple noticeable cracks that run along the center of the image but don't take away from 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"
1. Womack, Graham. "When Hank Gowdy was a Popular Hall of Fame Candidate." The National Pastime Muesum, 12 Apr. 2015, [https://sabr.org/latest/womack-when-hank-gowdy-was-popular-hall-fame-candidate ] Accessed 12 Oct. 2017. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171012181728/https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/when-hank-gowdy-was-popular-hall-fame-candidate] 2. McMains, Carol, and Frank Ceresi. "Hank Gowdy." Society for American Baseball Research, [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/afac3842] Accessed 12 Oct. 2017. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171012183113/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/afac3842]
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-025-03
025