Patrick "Pat" E. Dealy, Catcher, Washington Nationals, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This small card, produced around 1887 by Goodwin & Company, presents Patrick "Pat" E. Dealy, a catcher for the Washington Nationals. The image captures him in the act of holding a baseball, ready to throw. Consider the ball itself – a symbol of potential energy, of action about to unfold. We can trace its lineage back through art history. The orb appears in the hands of emperors as symbols of power, in portraits of children as symbols of innocence and play, or even in religious contexts as a symbol of divine authority. Here, it becomes a token of athletic prowess and the burgeoning culture of sport in modern America. But the hand holding the ball, we also see throughout history, in gestures of offering and defense, underscoring the layers of meaning embedded in the simplest of images. It is a symbol of human potential, but it is an action ready to unfold.