• Card series: Pioneer Portraits I: 1850-1874
• City: New York
• Team: Knickerbockers
• Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Alexander Joy Cartwright (1820-1892) was declared the inventor of baseball by an act of Congress in 1953. A founding member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1842, Cartwright is oftentimes falsely credited with establishing the 9 player “diamond” format in 1845. Modern researchers have largely debunked the historical import of Cartwright’s influence upon the game, its rules and development during those early formative stages, citing a propagandizing campaign by Cartwright’s son as a primary source of myth-making.

• The Knickerbocker rules form the foundation of the modern game
• Thanks to such rules, runners are no longer “tagged out” via thrown balls
• The diamond’s dimensions were termed by Red Smith “the closest man has ever come to perfection.”
• Elected to Hall of Fame: 1938