December 25, 1828: I remember waking up with the joy of Christmas filling my body. I
also remember the sounds of bacon sizzling on the cast iron skillet. The smells
were intoxicating, the grease of the bacon, the sweetness of the pancakes. I
arose from my slumber and saw snow cover the streets of New York City. I went
straight to the living room. Our dinner table was full of food. The bacon,
pancakes, eggs and the sausage engulfed the table. This was a very special
occasion for me because I had never seen so much food on my table. It was a
feast fit for a king. I wolfed down my plate and sprinted toward my tree. The
lights glistened in the living room. Presents were everywhere. I used ounce of
will in my body to not open presents because my parents were such slow eaters
and I needed to wait for them. After the wait that seemed like hours, I finally
opened my first present. I was hoping it was a fire truck; I’ve always wanted
to become a firefighter, it’s been my dream. I opened the present and found
what else, but a fire truck. I hugged my mother and father very tightly and
moved on to my next present. It was a journal, this journal to be exact. I
hugged my parents once again. I went into my room and played all day. It was
one of the best days of my life.
May 12 1836: Today was my first day of work and I was really looking forward
to it. I walked in and was inundated with astonishment. Suddenly, there was a
silence. Every man was wearing fine silk suits and ties and held leather
briefcases. Their hairs were flattened down like it was covered in mud and
their faces had this monotone yet serious expression. They held canes guiled
with fine gold. Their shoes were polished to the fullest extent. I wore my
shirt, trousers and suspenders. Every man was looking like I was some sort of
outcast. I kept walking and the eyes of every man and woman were beating down
on me like the hot sun in the summer. I eventually got into the office and met
my boss, Mr. O’Donnell. He was a robust man with a cigar in one hand and a
glass of whiskey in the other. “Sit
down” he said in his deep and monotone voice. “Welcome to Coit and Cochrane,
let me show you around.” He got up, put down his cigar and chugged down his
Scotch. I stepped out of his office. It was eerily quiet. All I could hear was
he scribbling of pencils and crumpling of paper. After the tour, he placed me
at my desk and placed a stack of paper on my desk: “get to work.” He said in an
exclamatory voice. I needed to organize them and put them in their respective
bins. I spent all day organizing these papers. It was exhausting. I am hoping
it get easier.
Early 1840’s:
After being a clerk at Coit & Cochrane and the Union bank of New York, I
entered the Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 12. I decided to do so because I
wasn’t satisfied with my previous jobs. I have always wanted to be a
firefighter, however no opportunity came so I became a clerk. I joined the
Company in the early this year. It’s been a couple of weeks ago. I remember the
atmosphere of my first day quite well. They introduced me to the “the House”(which
is the building). It makes sense because we sleep, eat, train, work and after
all live there. When I entered inside the building, at the left there is a door
leading to the stable. In the stable there are the horses on one side and the
huge water bottles the horses would carry on the carriages. On the left there
was the pole that we would use. Going
back to the entrance there is a staircase in the center leading to the dorms
and the captain’s office. The dorms were bunks on both sides and our equipment
at the ready next to them. In the middle of the room is the pole. I am really enjoying my job at the fire house.
September 23rd 1845: After a while in the firehouse I got to know
many friends. I met Duncan Curry, Daniel
“Doc” Adams and Henry Tiebout Anthony. We knew each other very well. I
introduced them to William Wheaton who was an attorney in New York and liked my
idea of creating a baseball club. I asked them if they wanted to join and they
agreed, they were going to meet with us in a pub today. This
was probably the most important day of my life. Doc and I were going to meet
the others to decide the fate of our jobs.
We meet in the small pub near my building were I used to work. We crossed the street and saw Duncan walking
with Will. We waved at each other and they crossed the street to meet us. I
checked my watch and saw that Alfred and Henry were late. I turned and asked
Doc where they could be. We decided to wait for them at the pub. After a couple
of drinks they arrived. We asked why they were late and replied saying it was a
long story. We sat in a round table at the back of the pub near the bar. Doc
and Duncan sat next to me. We talked for a couple of minutes about how we would
organize ourselves. I said I would start writing the rules in the next couple
of weeks. Then I placed down this piece of paper on the table. I explained the
salaries we would have and the place where we would practice. To convince the
others I said that professional athletes won huge salaries. Suddenly, Henry
said that since New York is growing so fast he couldn’t find a place to
practice. We all worried, but Will had an idea. He said we could find many
places in Hoboken. Alfred and Duncan immediately disagreed. I agreed with them
we couldn’t pay 30 cents for a round trip to ride the ferry every day. And we
couldn’t leave Manhattan to live in New Jersey! We would need more money. W couldn’t pay
fifteen cents every day! Will defended his point saying that Hoboken was the
best place they could stay. Suddenly, our table was silent. The noise of the died
down, we couldn’t hear anything or say anything. Duncan and I looked at each other; we knew
that we had no choice. We came to a decision; we would play in Hoboken.
Picture of the New York Knickerbockers
Lithography of the Elysian Fields in Hoboken
October 23rd 1845 : Following the creation of the club with Duncan and the
others, I started writing the rules
today. I wouldn’t invent a brand new sport; I took the basic rules from a
British sport called Town Ball and added a few things. I used see people play when I was young from
time to time and used that to my advantage. In the beginning I started writing
the rules with Duncan. We started with the 1st rule:
« Members must strictly observe the time agreed upon for exercise, and be
punctual in their attendance» We both agreed on this one because we didn’t want
our matches to be delayed because one player was late. After writing 4 rules,
Duncan told me that we should only play on week-ends, I asked why and he told
me that during the week everybody is working ; I agreed that was our 5th
rule « No stump match shall be played on a
regular day of exercise ». After a while, we noticed we already wrote 14
rules. But we still didn’t know what to write about how many strikes there
should be to switch teams. Then, after thinking for a while we came to the 15th
rule « Three hands out, all out ». In the end of the afternoon we had
finished. Ducan and I both signed on the bottom of the last page and left. I hope I just made history today.
(Cover of the "Rules and Regulations of the Knickerbocker Baseball Club'')
February 9th,
1846: I cannot believe what happened today!
I am furious! People are saying that I am not the inventor of the rules of
modern baseball and that Abner Doubleday invented baseball altogether! Even
though I am the only one who actually published the rules of modern baseball. The
Knickerbocker club believes me! There is no evidence that P Doubleday actually
did write the rules because he has not published any. This is nothing but a
myth that people believe in! I do not know how much time this so called
“controversy” will take and when it will stop but I shall not stop fighting
until I get renamed as the official father of Baseball and the one who has
written the rules of modern baseball. I
do not want to dwell on this; I do not want to talk about it to anybody but the
men in the Knickerbocker Club. I am wondering what wife will think. That I am a
fake? A fraud? Will she think like the others or will she be on my side of the
argument? I cannot keep this going. It is never too late to put a stop to this
before the “news” becomes an even worse of a deal. Here is MY evidenvce:
Abner Doubleday
June 19th, 1846: Our first match ever against the New York Nine. This is the first
recorded Baseball match. A very big day for Duncan, William and myself. The
game was being played by the rules I have established. I could not be more
proud than to this day and I was respected a lot by the crowd that day. Duncan,
being the president of the team was very tense during the match against the New
York Nine. An emblem was created in honor of this match. Unfortunately, we were
very badly defeated and it brought our whole team down. Duncan and William were
not even speaking that night because they were so sad we had lost the first
ever baseball match that we were hosting. The men in the other team were all
smarter than our players and they all played cricket; thus this being to their
advantage. I am talking to Duncan about this match and it seems that we will
not be respected as much because the Knickerbocker Club created their own team.
We are all trying to make our way out of this. I umpired this match and made
calls for both teams. I was still gladly honored that day.
The Sun Sunday February 5th 1916
Plaque of their first game
August
15th, 1849:I was very excited that day because the news said that
there was a lot of gold in California! I sailed to California and it didn’t
please me much, I thought I would become rich! I stayed for barely two months
and on, I then sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii. I arrived there today! I saw what
was paradise for me. I had just realized that my dream was not getting rich, it
was this: a perfect place for retirement. It had fantastic climate, marvelous
beaches and perfect environment. I suddenly meet one of my friends from back in
New York, Aaron Howe whom just happened to own a ship Candler’s business and
needed help with his store. I decided to enter in his employment as a
bookkeeper. I know I will never go back to New York or California ever again. I
am really enjoying myself and then I just discovered something: I have to tell
my wife! I immediately start to write to her and I tell her about what had
happened, I apologize to her and then I start to tell her what a great place
this is and I can work thus out to have a great retirement with my wife, Eliza
and my three children: Dewitt, Mary and Kate.
Poster about the Gold Rush
Poster about the Gold Rush
A man searching for gold in a river
Alexander Joy Cartwright
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