Charles Edward "Charlie" Duffee, 2nd Base, St. Louis Browns, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

This photographic print of Charles Duffee was created in 1886 by Goodwin & Company as part of a series for Old Judge Cigarettes. Here, Duffee appears in his baseball uniform, ready to pitch. The ball hovering just above his hand, strikes me as an object rich with symbolic meaning. Think about how the simple act of throwing, or projecting, has echoed through human history – in ancient rituals of offering, where objects were cast towards the heavens or into sacred waters. Consider also the psychological dimension of projection as described by Freud. The baseball, as a projected object, embodies ambition, force, and even the desire for control, echoing the deep human impulse to influence our environment. The trajectory of this object creates an arc of potential, resonating with the cyclical patterns of human experience and the eternal dance of cause and effect.