One definite thing is that the first reference to the word ‘baseball’ was
made by the Reverend Thomas Wilson in England. In his diary in 1700,
he had mentioned “I have seen Morris-dancing, cudgel-playing, baseball
and crickets”.^3
The first official game of baseball under modern rules was played in New
Jersey, US, on June 19, 1846. On this day, the New York Mutuals
defeated the New York Knickerbockers 23-1 in a 4-inning game. In
Knickerbockers, there was a bank clerk called Alexander Joy Cartwright,
and the two teams played a game with the rules which Cartwright
created.^4 In his 14 lines of rules that would form the basis for modern
baseball, it called for a diamond-shaped infield, foul lines, and the
three-strike rule. He also abolished the dangerous practice of tagging
runners by throwing balls at them.^5 Cartwright’s rules were expanded to
the entire state and evolved into the modern rules of baseball.