Joseph H. "Joe" Mulvey, 3rd Base, Philadelphia, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This modest card, produced around 1888 by Goodwin & Company, features Joseph Mulvey, a third baseman for Philadelphia. What strikes me is Mulvey's pose, suspended in the act of readying to throw, his hands forming a cradle for the ball. This gesture, of offering and potential energy, resonates across cultures and centuries. Consider the presentation of offerings in ancient rituals, or the Virgin Mary presenting the infant Christ, these forms echo through time. Mulvey's gesture, though secular, taps into this deep well of collective memory. The ball itself, a sphere pregnant with possibility, mirrors the cosmos. The act of throwing is a small echo of creation, filled with the anticipation of what is to come. We are invited, on a subconscious level, to engage in the optimism and potential of this single, small moment, now captured for eternity.