Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 195

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 195
Description:
Jim Bottomley, a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, is in the process of fielding a baseball thrown to him while he covers first base as the baseball sits inside Bottomley's glove. Bottomley's right foot touches the edge of the base as Bottomley's body is postioned outward towards the outfield.
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
Baseballs
Bottomley, James Leroy
St. Louis Cardinals
Fielding Stance
Fielding--First base
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/233
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:
Bottomley is demonstrating the improper way for a first baseman to field a baseball throw to them on their right side. This method is incorrect because Bottomley has crossed the wrong foot over in order to catch the baseball. Bottomley should have left his left foot on the base and extended his right foot outward in order to catch the baseball. Because of his incorrect positioning, Bottomley's right foot has lifted off of first base. His toe is still on the ground while his heel is in the air and is no longer making contact with first base. This isn't ideal because as Bottomley catches the baseball, his foot is no longer touching the base, meaning that the baserunner would not be out until Bottomley adjusted his foot and touched the base. If the play is close, this could allow the baserunner to reach first base successfully. Bottomley should have crossed over with his right foot rather than his left, which would have allowed him to keep his left foot on the base. This would increase the chances of the baserunner being thrown out compared to them being able to reach first base successfully.
James Bottomley was born April 23, 1900, in Oglesby, Illinois. He was born into a coal mining and farming family, and quit school at just 16 to help support his family. His little brother was killed in a mining accident in 1920. Bottomley participated in semipro baseball to earn some extra money to help support his family when a local policeman became impressed by his abilities on the field. The policeman was friends with Branch Rickey, the Cardinals manager, informing him of Bottomley who then sent a scout to watch Bottomley play. He was signed to the Cardinals in 1920 and made his major league debut at the end of the 1922 season, batting .325 in 37 games and replacing Jack Fournier as the starting first baseman for the Cardinals. In 1923, Bottomley hit .371, finishing second in the batting race behind his teammate Rogers Hornsby. In 1924, Bottomley set a major league record that still stands today, recording the most RBIs in a single game. Bottomley had 12 RBIs that game on 6 hits, including a Grand Slam and another home run. In 1993, another Cardinals player tied his record, but it has never been broken. 1928 would prove to be Bottomley's best season in the Major Leagues, as he hit 31 HR and led the league with 136 RBIs along with hitting 42 doubles and 20 triples. He would win the MVP Award that season. In 1931, Bottomley finished third in the closest batting race in MLB history. Bottomley hit .3482 while the winner hit .3489 and the runner up hit .3486. Bottomley won two World Series championships with the Cardinals in 1926 and 1931 while making it to four, losing in 1928 and 1930. He finished his career playing for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Browns, but was never the same player he had been on the St. Louis Cardinals. Bottomley was known as Sunny Jim throughout the course of his career for his happy go lucky attitude. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I used facial recognition to identify the player in Slide 195 as Jim Bottomley.
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"
Johnson, Bill. "Jim Bottomley." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ea08fc60 ]. Accessed 30 May 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [http://web.archive.org/web/20180530115030/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ea08fc60].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-195-03
195