Leslie Mann (November 18, 1892 – January 14, 1962) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

player, professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player; and football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He played

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

in the Major Leagues from 1913 to 1928. He played for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. He was the head basketball coach at

Rice Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its work ...

(1919–1920)

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

(1922–1924) and

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor ...

(1924–1926). He compiled a career record of 43–30 in five seasons as a head basketball coach.

Early years

Born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United ...

, Mann attended the Y.M.C.A. College in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...

. He played both football and basketball at Springfield and was regarded as "one of the best football players the training school ever had."

Major League Baseball player

Mann later became a professional baseball player. From 1913 to 1928, he played for the

, and

. He was a member of the 1914 "Miracle" Braves team that went from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July. The team then went on to defeat

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

's heavily favored

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

in the

1914 World Series The 1914 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1914 season. The 11th edition of the World Series, it was played between the American League champion and defending World Series champion Philadelphia Athletics and ...

. Mann also had an RBI single off

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

in Game 4 of the

1918 World Series The 1918 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1918 season. The 15th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Boston Red Sox against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. The ...

Coaching career

Mann also worked for many years as a college football and basketball coach. From 1914 to 1916, he was a basketball coach at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...

. In 1919, he became a coach at

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

. In February 1922, Mann was hired as an assistant football coach at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. He also coached the

Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on the Branch McCracken Court in ...

team during the 1922–23 and 1923–24 seasons. Starting in 1924, Mann was hired as the head basketball coach and assistant football coach at his alma mater, which by then had become

Head Coach Records

Later years

After retiring as a player and coach, Mann became an advocate for baseball as an international sport. He founded the U.S.A. Baseball Congress, and organized a 20-game tour of Japan in 1935. Through his efforts, baseball was selected as a demonstration sport in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-s ...

played in Berlin. Originally, the United States team was scheduled to play a Japanese team, but the Japanese withdrew. The American team was separated into two squads who competed against each other in a single game. The "World Champions" lineup beat the "U. S. Olympics" lineup by a score of 6–5 before a crowd of 100,000 people on August 12, 1936. Mann went on to found the International Baseball Federation, which organized an international championship in England in 1938. The English team, composed mainly of Canadian college players, won 4 out of 5 games against an amateur American team. He also organized subsequent championships in Cuba in 1939 and Puerto Rico in 1941.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

brought Mann's efforts to an end. Mann also arranged a 33-game tour of South Africa and Rhodesia between November 1955 and February 1956. He died in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

Hitting and fielding stats

* 1,498 Games * 4,716 At-bats * 1,332 Hits * 677 Runs * 203 Doubles * 106 Triples * 44 Home runs * 503 RBIs * 129 Stolen bases * 324 Bases on balls * .282 Batting average * .332 On-base percentage * .398 Slugging percentage * .966 Fielding percentage

References

External links

Leslie Mann
at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Les 1892 births 1962 deaths Amherst Mammoths men's basketball coaches Boston Braves scouts Boston Braves players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Chicago Whales players Cincinnati Reds players Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Nebraska City Forresters players New York Giants (NL) players Rice Owls men's basketball coaches Springfield Pride football coaches Springfield Pride football players Springfield Pride men's basketball coaches Springfield Pride men's basketball players Seattle Giants players St. Louis Browns scouts St. Louis Cardinals players Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Baseball players from Nebraska Basketball coaches from Nebraska Basketball players from Nebraska American men's basketball players American expatriate sportspeople in England