Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 270

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 270
Description:
Cy Williams, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, looks up in the air while keeping his arms to his sides at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Williams's right foot is planted on the ground as his left foot is lifted slightly off the ground with both of his feet spread about shoulder width distance apart.
Creator:
Leslie Mann
Creator:
Daniel Hurlburt
Date:
September 6, 2017
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
Fielding Stance
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Link to Item:
http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/309
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:
Cy Williams is demonstrating a way for a fielder to shift their body weight from one side of their body to the other. As Williams plants his right foot on the ground, he is using this foot to push forward to the left side of him, which in effect shifts all of his body weight to this side of his body. This is important because it will make it easier for Williams to move towards his left as he goes to catch the fly ball. Williams can shift his body weight to the appropriate side depending upon the location of the baseball, and this shift in body weight can make it easier for Williams to catch a fly ball that is hit to the left side of his body. Basically, Williams is able to move his center of gravity here so that it is closer to the location of the baseball, which makes it easier for him to extend his glove out and catch the baseball. This lantern slide matches the slide numbered 270 that Leslie Mann describes in his manual. However, we did not have this slide in our collection and had a different slide numbered 270. Because of this, this is David Brayfield's slide, which seems to match the description in the manual. A link to our 270 is attached here; https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16122coll10/id/225/rec/1
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, before 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 baserunners in the sport by 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 270 as Cy Williams on page 50 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/20190130184939/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/da11d4a5].
Identifier:
LANT-Brayfield-270-03
270