Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 216

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 216
Description:
Del Gainer, a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, stands holding his glove in front of his body slightly below waist level while gazing upward in the air.
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
Baseballs
Gainer, Dellas Clinton
St. Louis Cardinals
Fielding
Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/194
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:
Gainer is demonstrating the correct way to catch a fly ball dropping down from a high area directly in front of him. In this slide, the fly ball that Gainer is attempting to catch is dropping down towards him very quickly. Gainer wouldn't have enough time to bring his whole body forward under the baseball and catch it. Instead, he extends his glove outward away from his body to create a pocket where the baseball can fall into his glove. Here, the baseball would hopefully land directly in his glove. If it is possible, Gainer should get under the baseball and bring his glove above his head in order to catch the baseball. However, some baseballs hit in the air shoot down like a line drive, giving Gainer little time to react to the baseball and making his easiest course of action to be extending his glove outward to create a pocket with his glove that the baseball can fall into. From this position, Gainer would be able to adjust his glove and body if needed to in order to catch the fly ball. He would need to do this if he originally misjudged the location of the baseball.
Dellas Clinton Gainer was born November 10, 1886 in Montrose, West Virginia. Gainer began his baseball career in 1909, playing Class D ball in the Pennsylvania-West Virginia League. From the beginning of his career, Gainer was known as being an excellent bunter, which may be why Mann chose Gainer to demonstrate many of the bunting slides he created. He played a couple games for the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 1909 season after the team had clinched the Pennant, and was sent to a Class B Central League in 1910 to be farmed out. He returned to the Tigers in 1911 and played with them through most of the 1914 season. However, his time with the Tigers was plagued by injuries, as he broke his wrist in 1911 and badly sprained his ankle in 1912. Gainer played more in 1913, but was a disappointment and missed some time due to repeated minor injuries. Gainer was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1914, but was immediately injured. The Red Sox tried to get rid of him, but no one wanted him. He remained with the Red Sox until 1917, mainly being used as a utility backup player. However, in 1916, Gainer had his career defining moment as he drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning in game 2 of the World Series. He was a member of the 1915 and 1916 World Series championship wins for the Red Sox. Gainer joined the navy for World War 1 in 1918, and spent most of the next 10 years playing baseball in the minor leagues, expect for in 1922 when he played for the St. Louis Cardinals. Gainer played into his 40's in these minor leagues. After retiring, Gainer became a Deputy US Marshal.
I used facial recognition to identify the player in slide 216 as Gainer.
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"
Nowlin, Bill. "Del Gainer." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/0b74e2be]. Accessed 30 Jan. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [ http://web.archive.org/web/20180130152528/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/0b74e2be].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-216-03
216