Les Mann's: The Fundamentals of Baseball

Les Mann's: The Fundamentals of Baseball

Les Mann is one of our favorite ballplayers. In an impressive 16-year Major League career that spanned almost 1,500 games from 1913-1928, he batted a very respectable .282. He was also considered one of the best defensive outfielders of his time with a career .966 fielding percentage. Mann of course shows up in 1922 on the St. Louis Cardinals where he played in 84 games mostly in center field.

Les was also known as a great teacher of the game. He produced a series of innovative training materials "The Fundamentals of Baseball" that incorporated the then revolutionary technology of lantern slides which was an early photographic media. Most of the slides have photos of other major league baseball players explaining the correct way to bat, field, pitch and run the bases. In a side business, Mann sold these nationwide via his Sportology Corporation though less than 5 complete copies are known to exist today.

In the winter of 2019 his son, Leslie Mann II, and grandson, Leslie Mann III, donated an extensive set of scrapbooks, photographs and memorabilia including an intact slide set along with its lantern machine to Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. For a viewing of this incredible archival material go to: Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection - Springfield College Digital Collections