Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 258

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 258
Description:
Specs Toporcer, a shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals, lays on the ground in front of and to the left side of third base while Heinie Groh, a third baseman for the New York Giants, stands with both of his feet to the right side of third base as he is in the process of extending his glove outward to the left side of him across the 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 caps
Baseball fields
Groh, Henry Knight
Toporcer, George
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Giants
Base Running
Fielding--Third base
Sliding
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/238
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:
Groh is demonstrating an incorrect footing position for third baseman to follow when attempting to tag out a baserunner who is stealing third base. Groh's method is incorrect because he has placed both of his feet to the right side of the bag. His decision to do that means that Groh's center of gravity is also on the right side of the base. His body isn't positioned directly over third base, but is rather positioned to the right side of third base. This isn't ideal because it allows Toporcer to use the evasive slide like he does here to reach the base safely. Seeing that Groh is standing to the right side of the base would encourage Toporcer to slide on the left side of the base. In order to tag out Toporcer, Groh is forced to extend his glove and body across the base. Not only is this difficult for Groh to do because of his body position, but it is also time consuming. This would give Toporcer the advantage when he attempted to slide into third base, which could allow Toporcer to reach the base safely. If Groh had placed one foot directly in front of third base and one foot behind it, his center of gravity would be in the middle of the base. This would allow Groh to more easily move his glove towards the edge of the base than he is able to here, which would give him an advantage over the incoming baserunner rather than giving the advantage to the baserunner.
George Toporcer was born February 9, 1899 in New York, NY. In 1890, Toporcer's parents moved from Austria-Hungary to the United States. His father struggled to make ends meet, becoming an inventor. From a young age, Toporcer was interested in baseball, but his thick glasses and skinny appearance caused him to not be chosen for a lot of games in high school. In the Major Leagues, Toporcer stood 5"10 but only weighed 135 pounds, showing just how skinny he was. Toporcer's father died when he was in eighth grade and Specs was forced to drop out of school to help his family run the shop his father had owned since they were poor. Toporcer played in some semi-pro leagues, and was signed to the Syracuse Stars in 1920, who were a minor league team for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1921, before even appearing in a minor league game, Toporcer was promoted to the major league team as Milt Stock, their third baseman, claimed he would not be returning for the 1921 season. Toporcer performed very well during spring training in Stock's absence, but Stock returned to the team. He remained with the Cardinals for a portion of the season, but went back to the Minor Leagues near the end of the season because of a lack of playing time. In 1922, Specs performed exceptionally well again in spring training, and attempted to replace Dov Lavan at shortstop since Rogers Hornsby was the second baseman and that was Specs natural position. However, Branch Rickey instead turned Toporcer into a utility bench player, basically meaning that if any of the starters needed a day off or if he ever needed a big clutch hit, he would turn to Specs. Specs only averaged 194 at bats per season, but often came in clutch in the most important times for the team, including when he hit a two run RBI double to help the Cardinals clinch the Pennant in 1926, eventually leading to them winning the World Series. In 1928, Bill McKechnie became the manager of the Cardinals, and he wasn't a fan of Toporcer, causing Toporcer to make very minimal appearances. He was sent to the Class AA Rochester Red Wings minor league affiliate for the Cardinals in 1929. While there, he led the team to four straight circuit championship wins, and won two MVP'S. In 1935, Specs asked for a pay raise and was denied, leading to him joining the Boston Red Sox's AA team, but a severe knee injury in 1936 practically ended his playing career. He coached on numerous minor league teams for the next few years. However, in 1948, Toporcer suffered a retinal detachment, leading to him losing sight in one of his eyes. In 1951, he lost sight in his other eye. His wife became his caretaker, and Specs spent the next few years speaking about the game of baseball. Specs lived until he was 90 years old, where he fell down in his house and suffered serious injuries that led to his death.
Slides 256-259 appear to be continuation slides, as Leslie Mann uses the same players to show the correct and incorrect techniques and methods that the third baseman should use when attempting to tag out a baserunner who is trying to steal third base. Toporcer is identifiable as the baserunner in Slide 258, while the player covering third base appears to be Groh based on his jersey and facial recognition from some of the other slides.
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"
Skelton, David E. "Specs Toporcer." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7a1e7d76 ]. Accessed 11 Apr. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [http://web.archive.org/web/20180411161656/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7a1e7d76 ].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-258-03
258