Keystone cop Russ Glanstein clowns around near third base as base coach Kiha Akau, left, and runner Mark Taniguchi watch during last night's re-enactment.
Keystone cop Russ Glanstein clowns around near third base as base coach Kiha Akau, left, and runner Mark Taniguchi watch during last night's re-enactment.
Shortstop Pat Ganeko fires the ball to third base.
Coinciding with a parade yesterday at Hoboken, N.J., site of the original game, the re-enactment here was organized by local Cartwright Foundation director-historian Samantha D'Ambrosio. The 41-year-old Massachusetts native began in 1989 to collect memorabilia of the man many historians credit as the game's modern inventor. Cartwright, Honolulu's first fire chief, is buried at Oahu Cemetery.
The historic first modern baseball game was recorded on June 19, 1846, at Hoboken when Cartwright brought the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine across the Hudson River to play at Elysian Fields. The Nine won, 23-1, playing on a field that was marked for the first time with foul lines.
There are others who believe the game was invented by Abner Doubleday and that the first game was played at Cooperstown, N.Y., home of baseball's Hall of Fame.
Last night's game lasted six innings and saw a team of Hawaiian Electric Co. employees defeat a team of local TV, radio and print media reporters, 6-5. Kiha Akau, a Heco meter reader, drove in team captain Kelly Okudara, a cable splicer, for the winning run in the sixth inning.
Threes are a crowd as Hawaiian Electric Co. players all wear uniforms sporting Babe Ruth's number.