According to Randolph Hoppe (2001) “On 19 June 1846, the first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright's rules on Hoboken's Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1. Cartwright umpired.” Hoppe (2001) stated “In the Harper's Weekly of 15 October 1859, a spread was devoted to two games being played on Hoboken's Elysian Fields.” Ernest Miklich (2016) describes just how important baseball is to American culture when he said “With the rules better defined and with the success of the 1857 convention, the game became increasingly popular. Subsequent conventions attracted more teams. The Civil War caused membership to decrease but helped introduce the game to southern
