Alexander Cartwright

Alexander Cartwright II (April 17 1820 – July 12 1892) was officially credited by the United States Congress on June 3, 1953, with inventing the modern game of baseball. Many attribute the invention to Abner Doubleday, a story considered a myth by sports historians. Cartwright was a bookseller in Manhattan, and a volunteer fireman. [Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006.] Cartwright founded the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club (after the Knickerbocker Fire Engine Company) in 1842. [Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006.] They played a brand of stick-and-ball game called the town game. In 1845 Cartwright and a committee from his club drew up rules converting this playground game into a more elaborate and interesting sport to be played by adults. He and other firemen played on a field at 47th and 27th Streets. [Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006.] The rules of the modern game are based on their by-laws, and Cartwright is thought to be the firstperson to draw a diagram of a diamond shaped field. [Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006.]

The Knickerbockers participated in the first competitive game (as opposed to intramural) under these rules on June 19, 1846. The Knickerbockers lost 23-1 to the New York Nine.

Born in New York City, April 17, 1820 to Captain Alexander Joy Cartwright, Sr. and his wife Esther Burlock Cartwright, Alex Jr. was one of six children. His five siblings were Benjamin, Katherine, Alfred, Esther, and Mary. Alex married Eliza Van Wie of Albany on June 2, 1842. Three children were born to them in New York: DeWitt (born May 3, 1843), Mary (born June 1, 1845), and Catherine Lee or Kathleen or “Kate Lee” (born October 5, 1849).

Cartwright left New York to mine gold in California in 1849 and introduced baseball in almost every town where he stayed along the way. But the unsanitary conditions in California mining camps proved horrible by modern standards, eventually leading to a cholera epidemic. To escape it, Cartwright settled in Hawaii and became a successful Honolulu businessman. Two more children were born to Alexander and his wife, Eliza, in Honolulu, Bruce in 1853 and Alexander III in 1855. In Honolulu, Cartwright established the first baseball league composed of teams he created throughout the Hawaiian islands.Fact|date=February 2007 His Hawaiian leagues became a model for the modern American and National Leagues of today. He is buried in a pink granite cask at Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu, a plaque to him exists in Honolulu Hale (City Hall), and Cartwright Field in Honolulu is named in his honor. In 1938, Cartwright was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The "Knickerbocker Rules"

While there are many differences between the modern rules of baseball and the so-called Knickerbocker Rules (as adopted September 23, 1845 by the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club), there are also many similarities.

Similarities between the Knickerbockers' rules and the rules of today include:
*there are four bases laid out in a square.
*the bases are approximately convert|90|ft|m|0 apart.
*balls hit outside of first or 3rd base are foul.
*there are three "hands out" per inning.
*teams play an equal number of "hands", or innings.
*the striker must swing and miss three times to strike out.
*on the third swinging strike, the "striker" (batter) may run to first if the catcher does not catch the ball on the fly or on one bounce.
*runners may put out by being tagged or forced.
**a runner cannot be put out by "soaking" (hitting them with a thrown ball).
**throwing at a runner is prohibited.

Differences between the Knickerbocker rules and the rules of today include:
*foul balls were not considered strikes.
*there were no called strikes.
*the game continued until one team scores 21 "aces" (runs), provided that an equal number of hands (innings) had been played.
*the ball had to be pitched underhand.
*a "striker" (batter) was out if a fair or foul ball was caught on the fly "or" the first bounce. All base runners could advance on a fair ball caught on the first bounce.

Major changes to the Knickerbocker rules:

*1857; January 22 - the nine inning game is introduced.
*1858 - called strikes are introduced.
*1864; December 14 - a batter is no longer out if a fair struck ball is caught on one bounce. Foul balls caught on the first bounce are still outs.

Questions

New York City librarian Robert W. Henderson documented Cartwright's contributions to baseball in his 1947 book "Bat, Ball, and Bishop", which Congress cited in recognizing Cartwright as the inventor of the modern game. Although there is no question that Cartwright was a prominent figure in the early development of baseball, some students of baseball history have suggested that Henderson and others embellished Cartwright's role. The primary complaint is that touting Cartwright as the "true" inventor of the modern game was an effort to find an alternative single individual to counter the clearly mythical "invention" of baseball by Abner Doubleday.

Some authors have also questioned the supposed "first game" under the new rules. The Knickerbockers' scorebook shows games during 1845 also. Those who have studied the scorebook have concluded that the differences in the games of 1845 and 1846, compared with the specifications of the Knickerbocker rules, are minimal, such as fielding teams of 7 players instead of 9.

ee also

*History of baseball

References

External links

*
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cartwright_Alexander.stm BaseballLibrary] - biography
* [http://open-site.org/Sports/Baseball/History/Biographies/Cartwright,_Alexander Open-Site] - biography
* [http://www.mrbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=25 Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr.]