Becker, Boston, National League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This baseball card of Becker from Boston, was made by the American Tobacco Company, and the whole thing has this soft lithographic feel to it. The colors are muted, like an old memory, or one of those dreams where everything's a little hazy. I’m thinking about the texture of it. The surface looks almost chalky. I see the way the colors blend, not perfectly, but with a kind of wabi-sabi charm. Look at the green background; it’s not just green, it’s got these little flecks of other colors, like they were building it up, layer by layer. Then there's the figure itself, rendered with a few simple lines and blocks of color. The red "B" on his chest is such a great focal point. There is something both naive and confident in the rendering of this image. It reminds me of some of the early pop art, but also has a connection to folk art traditions. Like all great art, it's open to interpretation, inviting us to bring our own experiences and associations to the game.