Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 87

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 87
Description:
Cy Williams, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, slides along the ground in the base path between first and second base with his body and legs facing towards first base. His feet are lifted in the air as he raises his head upwards and looks towards first base.
Creator:
Leslie Mann
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
Williams, Frederick
Philadelphia Phillies
Sliding
Stealing
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/311
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:
Williams is demonstrating the incorrect way for a baserunner to slide back into the base after taking a lead off of it. This form is incorrect for multiple reasons. Williams is already laying on the ground and has thrown himself into a precarious position way too early in his sliding process. He is at risk of injuring himself as he slides back into the base, and could even see one of his spikes get caught in the ground. Williams is also demonstrating the incorrect stance because from here, his whole body would slide directly into first base, which increases the likelihood that Williams slides into the fielder covering first base. This would increase the chances of both Williams and the fielder covering first base getting injured. Williams should use his momentum better and jump in the air towards the side of the base as he slides back into it rather than choosing to do what he did here. Even though this slide was not included in our original collection, we were missing number 87 entirely, and the slide David Brayfield has matches the one that Leslie Mann describes in his manual.
Fred Williams was born December 21, 1887, in Wadena, Indiana. Williams went to college at Notre Dame, and had never played baseball professionally before arriving there. In fact, upon arriving at Notre Dame, Williams was mainly a football and track star. Williams joined the baseball team in college and gained the attention of a scout who wanted him to sign with Chicago Cubs. Williams would eventually sign with the team during his senior year of college. He jumped immediately to the Major Leagues, but played only 28 games in his first season with the Cubs in 1912. Williams only played part-time for the Cubs during his first three years, and didn't get a chance to sign full-time until 1915. Part of the Dead Ball Era, Williams hit 13 home runs in 1915 which was second in the NL. Six of the 13 were actually inside the park homeruns. Williams had become one of if not the fastest baserunner in the sport in 1915. In 1917, Williams was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. It took a couple years for Williams to find his stride, but Williams hit over .300 in six of the next seven seasons. In 1923, Williams hit 41 home runs, breaking the national league record for most home runs hit in a single season. Williams finished his career with 251 home runs, which was the National League record upon his retirement.
Leslie Mann identifies the player in slide 87 as Cy Williams on page 23 of his manual titled the Fundamentals of Baseball.
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" taken from the lantern slide set owned by David Brayfield.
Gagnon, Cappy. "Cy Williams." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/da11d4a5 ]. Accessed 21 Aug. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [ http://web.archive.org/web/20190131184400/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/da11d4a5 ].
Identifier:
LANT-Braefield-087-01
87