It Happened In NJ...

continued from front page rules, the Knickerbockers and the previously “town ball-playing” the New York Nines. No questioning of the umpire was allowed since the players considered themselves gentlemen. Proof of their social status, a historian would write, was that they could play baseball on Monday and Thursday afternoons at a time when Paterson mill workers were beginning the second half of their long day. With no real equipment apart from a bat (no baseball glove yet), the clubs agreed to play for honor and to test Cartwright’s rules. The winner would keep the ball as a trophy.

The New York Nines got the hang of the new rules rather quickly, which made it a fun afternoon for the various onlookers who

Transportation is available by appointment only.

Call 973-535-7925, option 8 or email cjudge@livingstonnj.org

Free. Pre-registration required. Tickets are available at SYLS office, 204 Hillside Ave., Mon. - Fri., 8:30 am -4:30 pm.

Questions: please call 973-535-7925, option 8 or email syls@livingstonnj.org came to watch the game. In a twist of fate, the Nines pummeled the Knickerbockers 23 to 1 and went home with the baseball in hand. Still, the Knickerbockers would go on to dominate baseball until clubs began playing for money in the 1870s, by then with Cartwright’s rules becoming the standard around the country and the world.

And so, although thought up by a New Yorker in New York, the game of baseball as we know was first played in an organized matter in our home state of New Jersey on June 19, 1846, thus making it the birthplace of the sport – well, potentially, maybe… it sure depends on how one looks at it.

Peter Zablocki is the co-host of the History Teachers Talking Podcast. For more information, visit www.peterzablocki.com