Alexander Joy Cartwright (April 17 1820 – July 12 1892) was an American engineer who has as good a claim as any as the inventor of baseball. Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers, who 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 more elaborate and interesting sport to be played by adults.

The Knickerbockers participated in the first game under these rules on June 19, 1846. The Knickerbockers lost 23-1.

Cartwright left New York to mine gold in California in 1849. He fell ill and settled in Hawai'i. A citizen of Hawai'i, Cartwright became a successful Honolulu businessman. There, Cartwright established the first baseball league composed of teams he created from throughout the Hawaiian islands. His Hawaiian leagues became a model for the modern American and National Leagues of today. In 1938, Cartwright was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The "Knickerbocker Rules"

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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 90 feet 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 are no called strikes.
• the game continues until one team scores 21 "aces" (runs), provided that an equal number of hands (innings) have been played.
• the ball must be pitched underhand.
• a "striker" (batter) is out if a fair or foul ball is caught on the fly or the first bounce. All base runners may advance on a fair ball caught on the first bounce.

Major changes to the Knickerbocker rules:

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• 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

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Although there is no question that Cartwright was a prominent figure in the early development of baseball, some authors who are students of baseball history have suggested that there has been some embellishment of 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 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.

See also

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• History of baseball

External links

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• Baseball Hall of Fame
• BaseballLibrary - biography

1820 births | 1892 deaths | Baseball Hall of Fame | Baseball developers | Honolulans