The Day the 'Father of Baseball' Got Schooled! On June 19, 1846, the first officially recorded match of modern baseball took place at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey. The legendary Alexander Cartwright, the man who literally wrote the rules of the game, led his team, the New York Knickerbockers, into battle against the New York Nine. You would think the inventor would have a home-field advantage, but fate had other plans. The Knickerbockers were utterly demolished, losing 23 to 1 in only four innings! Adding a hilarious layer of irony, Cartwright acted as the umpire for the game and spent his time fining a player six cents for swearing during the blowout. It turns out that while Cartwright was a genius at drafting regulations, he was slightly less gifted at the diamond. This remains one of history's most amusing examples of a creator being crushed at their own game—though at least he made a few pennies off the potty-mouthed losers!