There’s a bronze plaque at an intersection in Hoboken, NJ marks the birthplace of baseball.
The iterative and decentralized journey from the children’s game of rounders to modern baseball makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly where it all started. However, with the debunking of the myth of Cooperstown, Hoboken, New Jersey, presents a highly convincing case.
The Father of Modern Base Ball
The credit for this claim goes to Alexander Cartwright who established the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York in 1845. Following Cartwright’s rules, the Knickerbockers played a game that closely resembles today’s baseball. Their systematic recording of games underlines their pioneering role in the sport. Perhaps ironically, The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown even honors Cartwright as “The Father of Modern Base Ball.”
“On 19 June 1846, the first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright’s rules on Hoboken’s Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1. Cartwright umpired.”On June 19, 1846, the first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright’s rules on Hoboken’s Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1. Cartwright umpired.”
Randolph Hoppe, HobokenBaseball.com
Hoboken’s Elysian Fields
The Knickerbockers chose Hoboken’s Elysian Fields as their practice grounds. It was more than just a baseball field, it was a popular 19th-century retreat for New Yorkers. The Colonnade Hotel and tavern, picnic areas, Sybil’s Cave spa, river walks, and nature paths were among the attractions there.
The field’s most memorable day was June 19, 1846. The Knickerbockers hosted their first game against another team, the New York Baseball Club. The visitors, known as the “New York Nine,” thrashed the home team 23-1. A plaque in Hoboken commemorates this as the first well-recorded game between two different clubs under the new rules. It was “the first match game of baseball.”
Elysian Fields kept shaping baseball’s growing popularity. The “New York Rules,” applied at the fields, spread nationwide in army camps during the Civil War. This boosted baseball’s rise as the national pastime. A major match took place there in 1865, almost two decades after the first game. The Mutual Club of Manhattan played against the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn, and a crowd of 20,000 spectators saw the Atlantics win 13-12. A famous Currier & Ives print vividly depicted the event.
Yet, by the late 1860s, people preferred closer locations to Elysian Fields. After building major baseball parks in Brooklyn, Elysian Fields hosted its last professional game in 1873.
The Birthplace of Baseball Monument
The Birthplace of Baseball Monument in Hoboken, NJ now stands where the original diamond likely was along Washington St. The plaque commemorates Alexander Cartwright and acknowledges, “The inaugural match game of baseball took place here on the Elysian Fields between the Knickerbockers and the New Yorks on June 19, 1846. It’s widely recognized that the game was not taken seriously until this event.”
Each corner of the intersection is marked with bronze base markers marking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and home plate symbolizing the site’s historical significance. These stand as proud memorials to where Elysian Fields once lay. A block east of the monument, in what is now Elysian Park, lies the last remaining piece of Elysian Fields.
