Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 280
Item Information
- Title:
- Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 280
- Description:
-
George Burns, an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, brings his arm forward in front of his body in throwing motion as he has released the baseball from his hand. The baseball can be seen traveling towards the infield at Crosley Field in Cincinnati Ohio, as Burns looks forward and begins to lift his back foot up in the air in order to step forward.
- 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
Baseball fields
Burns, George Joseph
Cincinnati Reds
Fielding--Outfield
Fielding Stance
Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Link to Item:
- https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/316
- 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).
- Publisher:
-
Springfield College
- Language:
-
English
- Notes:
-
Burns is demonstrating the correct way for an outfielder to throw the baseball into the infield overhanded after fielding a baseball hit to him. Burns has kept his feet about shoulder width distance apart as he begins the process of bringing his other foot forward and throws the baseball into the infield. Burns keeps his eyes forward, and brings his arm as far forward as possible in order to maximize the strength behind his throw into the infield. This lantern slide numbered 280 matches the one that Leslie Mann describes in his manual. However, we did not have a lantern slide like this in our collection. We used the lantern slide from David Brayfield's collection, which matches the manual.
George Joseph Burns was born November 24, 1889 in Utica, New York. He spent most of his career playing leftfield for the New York Giants, but also played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of his career. Burns’ name was actually popular during this time period, as two other famous people, another baseball player and comedian, shared the exact same name of George Burns with him. This may be why he is often forgot about today because of the success of the comedian. George Burns may actually be the most consistent hitter ever in the history of baseball. Burns career batting average was .287, but over 15 years, he never hit higher than .303 or lower than .272. He consistently hit around the .300 mark with little to no fluctuations throughout his 15 year career. Burns also consistently led the league in hits, runs, walks, and stolen bases. He made his debut in the Major Leagues at the end of the 1911 season for the Giants, and the manager John McGraw chose not to farm Burns out, which was a common practice during this time period. Instead, Burns remained on the team and sat on the bench, learning from McGraw. Burns became the starter for the Giants in 1913. The Giants field was known for being one of the sunniest fields, making it one of the most difficult baseball fields for a left fielder to play in. Burns adopted a special cap with blue sunglasses attached to it to deal with catching these fly balls. Burns became very successful at catching these fly balls. Burns was also known for his speed and being a very successful leadoff man. In 1914, he led the league in runs scored and stolen bases and hit .303, his career high batting average, finishing fourth in MVP voting. Along with his incredible consistency, Burns was also a very reliable player, as he played in 459 straight games from 1915-1917. Burns also has stolen home base 28 times in his career, the third most all-time. In 1921, Burns won the World Series with the New York Giants, and was the hero in Game 4, hitting a walk-off double. Shockingly, he was traded the next year to the Cincinnati Reds. He played in the Major Leagues until 1925 and then moved to the Minor Leagues until 1930.
I used facial recognition and similar slides to identify the player in slide 280 as George Burns.
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 collection of Leslie Mann and the baseball instruction course, "The Fundamentals of Baseballe" taken from the lantern slide set owned by David Brayfield
Lesch, R.J. "George Burns." Society for American Baseball Research, [ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c31a8104 ]. Accessed 21 Feb. 2018. _____Internet Archive_____. [http://web.archive.org/web/20180221175510/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c31a8104].
- Identifier:
-
LANT-Braefield-280-03
280