Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 272

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 272
Description:
Cy Williams, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, stands holding his glove out to the left side of his body with his throwing hand located behind the glove. Williams has brought his feet in close together while maintaining a slight bend in his knees.
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
Williams, Frederick
Philadelphia Phillies
Fielding--Outfield
Fielding Stance
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Link to Item:
http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/170
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:
This lantern slide demonstrates the correct way for a player to field a line drive baseball hit to their weak side. Williams has bent both his knees while keeping them on an even level with one another. This allows Williams to maintain his balance and center of gravity as he attempts to field the baseball. Since Williams was able to successfully center his body, he is able to make a much cleaner catch on the baseball. Williams also does a great job at just extending his glove outward to the side of his body to catch the line drive baseball hit to his weak side. Williams doesn't adjust his entire body to be in front of the baseball, but instead centers his body and just extends both of his hands outward towards the baseball. Williams may have been less successful if he attempted to move his entire body in front of the baseball because he wouldn't have as much time to react to the baseball reaching him.
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.
The player is a left handed outfielder. Based on this and the facial recognition that is possible to make from this slide, it was determined that this player is Cy Williams.
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"
Gagnon, Cappy. "Cy Williams." Society for American Baseball Research, sabr.org/bioproj/person/da11d4a5. Accessed 21 Aug. 2018.
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-272-03
272