America's National Game. Albert G. Spalding
memories of those now living who were old enough to play ball in the remote days referred to cannot be depended upon as a safe guide for the historian of to-day.
Nevertheless, it is of. record that as early as the year 1842 a number of New York gentlemen— and I use the term " gentlemen " in its highest social significance — were accustomed to meet regularly for Baseball practice games. It does not appear that any of these were world-beaters in the realm of athletic sports. Their records are not among those of famous athletes of their, day. Indeed, there is reason to believe that these fine old fellows shone more resplendently in the banquet hall than on the diamond field. The records of the club, faithfully kept and most beautifully transcribed, indicate far less attention to achievements in the game of ball than to exploits in the realms of gastronomy.
The Knickerbockers! Dear old fellows! How the very name of their organization suggests respectability! There is no photo of the players of that team on the field, but one almost unconsciously uniforms them in white silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles, silk knee breeches, blue swallow-tail coats and powdered wigs, under hats with the white cockade! They did not put up much of a game of Baseball as we understand it now, those nice old boys; the curved ball was not in evidence, the spit-ball had not put in an appearance; the base on balls was an unknown factor, and if any player of that club ever slid to base, it was on skates or a hand-sled in the games regularly played by them every winter on frozen ponds.
But, while they left us no records of 1-0 twenty-four innings games, let us ever hold in memory the stamp of respectability imparted to Baseball by its earliest champions. Let us never forget that the men who first gave impetus to our national sport in the way of organization for that purpose were gentlemen " to the manor born," men of fine tastes, of high ability, of upright character. It was not until long after the days of the Knickerbockers that Baseball was nearly ruined by the ascendancy of rowdies and gamblers. But of this more anon.
It was in the year 1845 — although the Knickerbockers had been playing practice games since 1842 — that the desirability of effecting a formal organization was first conceived. Previous to that time its members had been held together by ties of congeniality; now, the element of business system was to be injected.
To Alexander J. Cartwright, beyond doubt, belongs the honor of having been the first to move in the direction of securing an, organization of Baseball players. It is of record that in the spring of 1845 Mr. Cartwright, being present and participating in a practice game of ball, proposed to others the formal association of themselves together as a Baseball club. His suggestion met approval, and a self-constituted committee, consisting of Alexander J. Cartwright, D. F. Curry, E. R. Dupignac, Jr., W. H. Tucker and W. R. Wheaton, at once set about securing signatures of those who were desirous of belonging to such an organization. The result of the efforts of this committee was the gaining of a nucleus for what soon became the famous Knickerbocker Baseball Club, of New York, the first recorded association of Baseball players in the world. The organization was perfected September 23, 1845.
Alexander J. Cartwright, whose portrait is presented in connection with this chapter, was born in New York City in the first decade of the Nineteenth Century. He left his native city in 1849 and crossed the plains to California, attracted by the gold craze of that sensational era. He remained in the Golden State for only one year, sailing for the Hawaiian (then Sandwich) Islands, in 1850. There he spent the remainder of his active life, dying at Honolulu in 1892.
From early boyhood, Mr. Cartwright was an enthusiastic devotee of Baseball. Beginning as the originator of the first Baseball association in the world, and continuing his connection with that club as player and office-bearer until the time of his. departure in 1849, to seek his fortunes in the Far West, he never lost interest in the game. His son, Mr. Bruce Cartwright, a prominent citizen of Honolulu, in a personal letter to me, under date March 22, 1909, says:
" Although far removed from the field of his former activities, he never forgot Baseball, and never missed an opportunity of being present whenever the game was played here."
Alexander J. Cartwright, among many other thousands, was one of the devotees of Baseball disappointed by reason of the failure of the steamer "Alameda" to make schedule time, on the occasion of the visit of the "All America " and Chicago teams to Honolulu, on their world-tour in 1888-9.
This worthy man, whose loss was deeply mourned at the Hawaiian capital, where he was universally respected and beloved, had a life history contemporaneous with that of the birth and development of the game he so greatly admired. He had been present when the game was born. He had a part in its first organization. He had witnessed its progress throughout the years of its evolution and had seen it adopted not only as the national pastime of the land of his nativity, but had seen it become the favorite sport of the capital city of that far-off island of the Pacific which he had adopted as his home.
The first officers chosen by the Knickerbocker Club were Duncan F. Curry, President; William R. Wheaton, Vice-President; William H. Tucker, Secretary and Treasurer. The original playing grounds were on Manhattan Island and later on the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey, at that time the city's most popular summer resort.
The organization of the Knickerbocker Baseball Club was the beginning of a most important era in the history of the game, for it was the first recorded movement of that kind. The right and title to the distinction of being the first organized Baseball club in the world belongs to the old Knickerbocker Club. That honor has never been called in question. For more than thirty years the Knickerbocker Club maintained an amateur organization, and as such was regarded as a model in every respect.
But the claim to be the " only " club of ball players, was not long to remain unchallenged. The organization of the Knickerbockers soon bore fruit. In 1846 a party of players, styling themselves "The New York Nine," issued a challenge to the Knickerbockers to play a match — for a dinner, of course. The event came off at Hoboken, N. J., on the 19th of June, and it was the first contest of the kind ever played on those grounds.
The Knickerbocker team included Messrs. Turney, Adams, Tucker, Birney, Avery, H. and D. Anthony, Tryon and Paulding. The New York Nine comprised Messrs. Davis, Winslow, Ransom, Murphy, Case, Johnson, Thompson, Trenchard and Lalor.
The contest was a very one-sided affair. The challengers won by a score of 23 to 1, only four innings being necessary to secure the required 21 runs, and to teach the Knickerbockers that Baseball is a game not simply for the cultivation of the social amenities. It was five years before the Knickerbockers engaged in another Baseball match, but the annual banquets and occasional practice games continued as before.
In 1850 another team, under the title "The Washington Club," put in an appearance at the Old Red House grounds at Yorkville. Subsequently, in June, 1851, the Washingtons challenged the Knickerbockers. The game took place June 3rd of that year. The Knickerbockers, having profited by their defeat at the hands of the New York Nine, had been giving more attention to practice than to pastry, and had greatly improved their game. They appeared upon the grounds in new uniforms, composed of blue trousers, white shirts and straw hats, creating a profound sensation. The score of this game was 21 to 11 in favor of the Knickerbockers, in eight innings.
It may be well to explain that, at this stage of the development of our national game, the final result was contingent, not upon the score as it stood at the end of nine innings, as now, but upon the winning of 21 runs in any requisite number of innings.
The return game of this series was played on June 17th, 1851, on the Hoboken grounds of the Knickerbockers. It was also won by the latter by a score of 22 to 20, in a hotly contested game of ten innings, which was followed by the usual banquet.
The Washington Club met defeat well. Undaunted by their double drubbing at the hands of the Knickerbockers, the team continued its practice games regularly, and greatly strengthened its play by the reception of a large number of new members from whom players were selected.
In 1852, the Washington Club (of New York), recognizing the apparent inappropriateness of title, changed its name to "The Gotham Club," and at once became a strong rival of the Knickerbockers. For two years the Gothams sought in vain to defeat their metropolitan