Uncommon carte-de-visite portrait of a 19th-century baseball player, posed confidently with a bat over his shoulder, leaning casually against a studio prop. The player wears a loose, billowy shirt and tight trousers, consistent with early baseball attire from the 1860s–1870s, a period when uniforms were still evolving and standardized gear had yet to be fully adopted.

Photographed by A.D. Harding of 42 Main Street, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, a location associated with both railroad expansion and early amateur baseball activity. The image reflects the growing popularity of the sport in smaller American towns during the post-Civil War period, when baseball was transitioning from a gentleman’s pastime to a national obsession.

Examples like this are prized both for their scarcity and as historical documents of the sport's roots beyond major metropolitan centers.