Tannehill, Washington, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This is a baseball card, one of many produced around 1909 by the American Tobacco Company, featuring player Tannehill of Washington's American League team. Note how the image of the baseball player, poised with the ball in his hands, transcends its immediate context. This gesture—hands raised, offering—echoes through art history. Consider the ancient depictions of orants, figures in prayer with outstretched arms, or even the raised hands in celebratory Minoan art, revealing a primal posture of supplication or triumph. The act of holding and offering, seen in this modest baseball card, resonates with profound human expressions. Across centuries, the symbol of the open hand bridges the gap between athletic action and deep-seated emotional states. It speaks to our shared, subconscious understanding of vulnerability and hope. How fascinating it is to witness this pose resurface within a simple card, now a relic of a bygone era, yet still echoing the powerful language of human gesture.