William Moffat "Billy" Earle, Catcher, Cincinnati, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This small photographic card, issued by Goodwin & Company, presents William Moffat "Billy" Earle, a catcher for Cincinnati. His raised arms remind us of ancient orant figures, those ubiquitous gestures of supplication and communication with the divine. Consider the echoes of this pose across time; from early Christian art to modern expressions of triumph or surrender. This gesture, deeply rooted in our collective memory, transcends mere baseball. It resonates with primal emotions, a reaching out that binds us to past generations. It speaks to the enduring human need for connection and protection, a yearning as old as civilization itself. The iconography, mass-produced for cigarette consumption, becomes a potent symbol of the era, of aspirations and the emergent cult of the sporting hero, an image of the human condition caught in a fleeting moment.