Joseph Abraham "Joe" Werrick, 3rd Base, Louisville Colonels, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This small paper card, made by Goodwin & Company, captures Joe Werrick, a third baseman for the Louisville Colonels. His outstretched arm and focused gaze are a powerful, universal symbol of intent. Consider the 'Adlocutio' gesture of Roman emperors, or even the raised hand of a conductor. The gesture signifies direction, command, and connection to the audience. In Joe Werrick’s pose, we see this desire transposed onto the baseball field. The act of throwing, of launching an object, is an ancient one. Think of Zeus wielding his thunderbolt or the archer aiming his arrow, these gestures echo in Werrick’s stance. This posture conveys not only athletic prowess but also a deeper, more primal impulse to reach out and influence the world. It's fascinating to observe how such symbolic gestures are continually recontextualized. Joe Werrick’s stance, though specific to his time and sport, taps into a long history of visual language, revealing the enduring power of images to communicate across time and space.