Carrying a Spare Tire?

In 1973, Topps featured several subsets in its baseball card set. While most were carried over from other years, a subset showing players when they were kids was a new idea first used in the '72 set.

Card #341 - Jim Palmer, Childhood Photo

Here's a picture of Jim Palmer, sometime during the 1950s. While not yet wearing his BVDs, he is holding an inflatable floating ring while wading waist-deep in water. It appears Jimmy (not sure if he was called that as a kid, I'm just figuring) hasn't yet realized how swimming can help build the agility and flexibility needed by a young athlete.

Oh, and I'm wondering why Jimmy's Mom couldn't have just sent a nice picture of him in a baseball uniform. Little League, junior varsity, even holding a glove on the sandlot, anything baseball related...baseball cards look a little weird when their subjects are doing something else.