Recognized as the “father of modern baseball” and a respected community leader, Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr.’s 205th birthday comes with an official recognition of the baseball field at Cartwright Neighborhood Park as the “Oldest Active Baseball Field in America.”

A special dedication is scheduled for Thursday, April 17, at Cartwright Neighborhood Park, 1313 Makiki Street. The Royal Hawaiian Band will perform at 4:30 p.m. followed by a formal program at 5 p.m.

Included in the program will be Mayor Rick Blangiardi; Cartwright’s great-great granddaughter, Anna Cartwright; Honolulu Fire Department Chief Sheldon Hau with members of HFD’s Honor Guard; nonprofit Mālama Kīpuka Hawaiʻi; the Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr.; Coach Robert Iopa with area Little League teams; and contributors to Hawaii’s baseball community.

Born in New York, it seems Cartwright’s future would be intertwined with the game of baseball when, at age 16, he played bat and ball games with local volunteer firefighters following work as a bank clerk. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, CCartwright, together with friends, formed their baseball club in the early 1840s, naming it after Manhattan’s volunteer Knickerbocker Engine Company.

The Gold Rush called Cartwright to the western territories in 1849, and later that year, he sailed to Hawaii. He became Honolulu’s first fire chief and an advisor to Queen Emma. Cartwright died on July 12, 1892, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.

Cartwright is credited with establishing many of the game’s fundamental elements on the park site in 1852, including the diamond-shaped field, 90-foot base paths, nine innings and nine players per side — all of which continue to define the game as it’s played today.