Bill Kuehne, 3rd Base, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This baseball card, produced by Goodwin & Company around 1888, features Bill Kuehne, a third baseman for Pittsburgh. Consider his raised arm: it's not merely a baseball gesture, but echoes poses of authority and invocation seen across millennia. Think of the classical orator, arm raised to command attention, or even the priest in supplication. These gestures, ingrained in our collective memory, resurface in unexpected contexts, subtly shaping our perception. Here, the baseball player, a modern hero, inherits this lineage. Now reflect on how gestures of power transition. How poses and symbols evolve. The act of throwing, for instance, once a hunter’s instinct, now manifests as a controlled skill, celebrated and commercialized. Consider how sport became a symbolic battleground. With its own rituals and heroes, it reflects deep-seated desires for triumph, camaraderie, and the channeling of our primal energies in socially acceptable ways. This card captures this transition, revealing how ancient impulses can be reimagined and repackaged for a new era.