Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide No. 33

Leslie Mann, a baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, stands at home plate while a catcher stands behind the plate. The catcher is wearing numerous pieces of catching equipment. There are many people in the stands behind him, and there is a man in the background wearing a suit and tie that is standing on the field.This image appears to be taken during a game for the St. Louis Cardinals. Leslie Mann, the creator of the slides, is at the plate and is preparing for a pitch to be thrown. Mann is in a proper batting stance, as his legs are spread apart with even weight distribution. His feet are at a comfortable distance apart from one another, and Mann appears relaxed, which will help him be successful. Because the catcher is standing behind home plate with his equipment on, the catcher is preparing to get into position to be ready to catch the pitcher's throw. Since the catcher is standing and isn't in his full squat position, the pitcher most likely hasn't started throwing the ball yet since the catcher does not look prepared to catch the baseball. He is waiting for the catcher to get into position and for them to make communication with signals before throwing the ball. Mann has probably just stepped into the batter’s box. Overall, this image shows the preparation a catcher, batter, and pitcher have before a pitch is thrown, and it shows the differences in how baseball was played in the 1920's compared to now. It is interesting to note that Mann isn't wearing a helmet and is only wearing a hat, yet he appears to be in a real game setting. Helmets weren't mandatory until 1956, and based on all of Mann's slides, it appears very few players, if any, bothered to wear a helmet during this time period. This shows how baseball has changed tremendously, because now, not only is it required to wear a helmet, but baseball fans are so accustomed to seeing their favorite players wear helmets that they would be shocked and confused if anyone even tried to bat without a helmet on.For biographical information on Leslie Mann, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/563.Leslie Mann identifies the player in slide 33 as himself on page 8 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 (transparency); the two images were then combined in Photoshop to create the final image