This document discusses the contributions of Abner Doubleday and Alexander Cartwright to the origins and development of baseball. While Doubleday was long believed to be the creator of baseball, recent research shows that Cartwright was likely the true "Father of Baseball." Cartwright established the first set of organized baseball rules and founded the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. The document concludes that Cartwright had the most significant impact on transforming baseball into the popular sport it is today.

1. Abner Doubleday v. Alexander Cartwright: The Father of Baseball
Kolin McMillen
HIS 205
1 December 2014

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Many people dream of having a major lasting effect on history, if they're fortunate and
lucky enough. Abner Doubleday and Alexander Cartwright both had major contributions to not
only American history, but worldwide history. Their contributions have been misidentified with
one another. Abner Doubleday’s contributions dealt with his affirmative action in the Civil War,
while his other contribution is linked with baseball, the sport known as America's Pastime.
Although Doubleday is linked to one of the greatest historical myths in history, he is still
recognized as a war hero who created and established a game that is now played worldwide
(NNDB). However, through recent discovery, Alexander Joy Cartwright is the true “Father of
baseball (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library).” Cartwright's contribution to history is one of
the most important creations in entertainment that still thrives today.
If one would ask a stranger if they knew who Abner Doubleday was, odds are, the
stranger would link Doubleday to the origin of baseball. Doubleday has had a major effect on
history with baseball. However, studies show that Doubleday most likely did not have anything
to do with the creation of the sport known as “America’s Pastime (NNDB).” The baseball
creation story has been one of the longest ongoing myths in recent history. The old rumor had it,
that Abner Doubleday created the game of baseball after drawing a baseball diamond in the
fields in Cooperstown, New York in 1839 (NNDB). The rumor claimed that he built the diamond
and played the first game with bases, teams, a bat and a ball (Bauer and Goodman).
Many scholars believe that baseball has in fact been around for many years prior to 1839,
the year Doubleday supposedly created the game of baseball (Bauer and Goodmann). Matthew
Goodman and Stephen Bauer analyzed the origin of baseball in their scholarly journal article,
From Elysian Fields: Baseball as the Literary Game. They found that a rhyming poem was
written in 1744 by John Newbery of London, which hinted at the game later known as baseball.

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The title of Newbery's rhyme is "Base Ball." It goes, "The Ball once struck off --- Away flies the
Boy To the --- destin'd Post And then --- Home with Joy (Bauer and Goodman)."
After reading the poem, it is clear that to some extent, the game had at least been thought
of and made its way into an Englishman's journal. However, this does not make Newbery the
founder or creator of baseball. There were no guidelines, rules, teams, or anything brought up in
his journal entry. It was simply an entry that included a boy hitting a ball and having joy as he
went home. Abner Doubleday was the head of an extensive myth in history.
It has been through recent history that we have been able to discover the truth behind how
baseball originated. Although Cartwright is now credited with the creation of baseball, many
scholars believe that baseball has in fact been around for many years prior to 1845, the year
Cartwright formed the first organized game of baseball in the United States (Bauer and
Goodman). Cartwright was a founder and influencer of the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New
York City (NNDB).
In the early nineteenth century, it was very common for men to get together after work, in
the streets or vacant lots of New York to play a game of ball (SABR). At the time, Cartwright
was also working as a volunteer fireman. Therefore, a majority of the men Cartwright played
with, were volunteer firemen (SABR). The games grew in intensity and Cartwright decided to
form a team called the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York (NNDB). It is believed that
the name derived from the Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 12, a local company in New
York located by where the men played (SABR).
The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club's played their first official game in Hoboken, New
Jersey on September 23, 1845 (SABR). The game was played on an empty field that was later
named Elysian Fields. Cartwright and his team constructed a constitution along with twenty rules

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for the game. It was for this reason, that the rules are known as the “Cartwright Rules (SABR).”
As we look into the history of Abner Doubleday and analyze his life through his own
journals, diaries and books, we can determine that he is in fact, not the creator of baseball.
Instead, he was given credit of the creation of baseball based on the fact that he was prominent
general in the Army and it would give the game of baseball more prominent and proper
publicity. To many, for so many years, it sounded perfect to call baseball "America's Pastime."
Many would ask the question, "How could baseball not be America's Pastime? After all, one of
the army's Major Generals created the game." The two went hand in hand, thus keeping the aura
of baseball at a high level and gave baseball a prestigious feel.
We are able to find through research that Doubleday simply could not have created
baseball unless he was in two places at once. In 1839, Doubleday was enrolled in West Point,
this was after his family moved away from nearby Cooperstown in 1838. Also, Doubleday was
the author of at least three legitimate novels, primarily novels including his life experiences. In
these novels, as well as his personal journals and diaries, there have been absolutely zero
references to baseball, or even a game similar to baseball (NNDB). Logically, if one were to
create or invent something with as much potential as baseball had, it would make sense that it
would show up somewhere or somehow in his/her own personal journal.
Doubleday and Cartwright worked in separate fields, but were both seen as heroes. In
fact, Doubleday was a decorated war hero while Cartwright was a well-known fireman.
Doubleday graduated from West Point in 1842. He was then assigned to Fort Moultrie in 1858. It
was at Fort Moultrie where he was commander of an artillery unit (Simpson 156). Doubleday
served in the Civil War as a general, first in Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, before serving in the
Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 (Doubleday 212).

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Although Doubleday's link to baseball is not existent with historical facts, he had still
unintentionally instilled the belief that he had something to do with baseball, as shown with the
Baseball Hall of Fame, and Doubleday Field. What should be analyzed, is the fact that General
Abner Doubleday served in the Army from 1842 to 1873.With one of his most critical and
defining moments coming in Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the Civil War.
On the other hand, Alexander Cartwright lived happily in Hawaii after travelling across
the country sharing his love for the game with other pioneers. He lived in Honolulu as the city’s
first fire chief for the remainder of his life (CMG Worldwide). He worked as the fire chief and
played the game he loved until his death on July 12, 1892 (CMG Worldwide).
Alexander Cartwright was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938, which was the
Hall of Fame's third class inducted (SABR). The Hall of Fame is located in Cooperstown, New
York (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library). This location was chosen primarily due to the
fact that in prior years, many had attributed the creation of baseball to Abner Doubleday, a native
of a town near Cooperstown (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library).
In conclusion, Alexander Cartwright’s effect on the entertainment industry, has been
astronomical and extremely influential. He was able to transform a game that he and his work
friends played after work, and turned it into something incredible. It is only fitting to give
baseball the nickname, “America's Pastime.” Cartwright passed away on July 12, 1892 and was
inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938 (NNDB). On the other hand, Abner Doubleday's
effect on the world, has been an incredibly heroic, yet odd. He was given credit for something
that he didn't create or relate to, but due to the fact that he was a war hero, he was seen as the
perfect match to be the founder of baseball, giving baseball its nickname, “America's Pastime.”

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Bibliography
CMG Worldwide. "The Official Site of Alexander Cartwright." The Official Site of Alexander
Cartwright. http://www.cmgww.com/baseball/cartwright/about/bio.html (Accessed
November 10, 2014).
Doubleday, Abner.1882.Army in the Civil War, Volume 6: Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
North Scituate, MA, USA: Digital Scanning, Inc. Accessed October 10, 2014. ProQuest `
ebrary.
Goodman, Matthew, and Stephen Bauer.1993."From Elysian Fields: Baseball as the literary
game." Sewanee Review 101, no.2: 226.Poetry & Short Story Reference Center,
EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2014).
National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. "Alexander Cartwright." Baseball Hall of Fame.
http://baseballhall.org/hof/cartwright-alexander. (Accessed November 11, 2014).
NNDB.“Abner Doubleday.” Abner Doubleday. http://www.nndb.com/people/443/000022:
(accessed October 10, 2014).
NNDB. “Alexander Cartwright.” Alexander Cartwright.
http://www.nndb.com/people/410/000172891/ (accessed November 10, 2014).
"SABR." Alexander Cartwright. http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/09ed3dd4. (Accessed November
09, 2014).
Simpson, Brooks D.. The Civil War: the first year told by those who lived it. 1. print. ed. New
York, NY: Library of America, 2011