Alexander Cartwright

“Careful analysis characterizes this striking new book evaluating the contribution of Alexander Cartwright to early baseball. In a thorough examination of heretofore unearthed evidence, the author reveals how misreading and careless research established the myth of Cartwright’s single-handed creation of the baseball diamond and other basics of the modern game. She has made a fascinating and highly original contribution to baseball history.”—Dorothy Seymour Mills, independent scholar and author of A Woman's Work: Writing Baseball History with Harold Seymour

“The roots of ‘the great American pastime’ of baseball go back to the 1840s, in New York. At that same time, thousands of miles away, the Hawaiian Islands were still a separate country, ruled by a king. The connection? Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr., whose engrossing life story is told here: his role in the birth of baseball, his wagon-train journey to California, and the rest of his eventful life in faraway Hawaii. Fascinating, and well worth knowing.”—DeSoto Brown, archivist and author of Surfing: Historic Photos from Bishop Museum Archives

“Monica Nucciarone puts the legacy of Alexander Cartwright under the microscope in this fascinating and exquisitely researched biography. Ms. Nucciarone provides mounds of evidence to make us reconsider Cartwright’s stature as the principal founder of modern baseball. She also unveils a lesser-known facet of Cartwright’s life: his amazing and pivotal involvement in the intrigues of nineteenth-century Hawaii. We’ve waited a long time for a true biography of Cartwright, and now our patience has been rewarded.”—David Block, author of Baseball before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game

"Nucciarone's biography shows us a man as complicated and colorful as his history and as worthy of our attention as the sport he (allegedly?) inspired, and she shows us also how careless research and interpretation can make heroes out of the merely interesting."—TimeOut for Entertainment

"Alexander Cartwright provides a welcome addition to our understanding of baseball’s still legend-enshrouded early decades."—Derek Catsam, Arete