It's the oldest of its kind in the U.S., and it's located in Hawaiʻi: 6 things to know
On a warm April morning in Makiki, dozens of baseball fans, historians and city leaders gathered to celebrate a piece of American sports history that many people don't know has deep roots in Hawaiʻi.
At Cartwright Neighborhood Park, the sound of cheers and the crack of a bat rang out not just for a game, but for a legend.
April 17 marked the 205th birthday of Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr., a man many call the 'father of modern baseball'. It was also the day the City and County of Honolulu recognized Cartwright Neighborhood Park as the oldest active baseball field in the United States.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi threw the ceremonial first pitch and unveiled a new sign that proudly explained to the world what local fans have known for generations. Baseball has deep roots in Hawaiʻi.
'Alexander Joy Cartwright is a national treasure,' Mayor Blangiardi said. 'It is only fitting that this park bearing his name be forever recognized as the birthplace of baseball as we know it.'
Back in 1852, Cartwright helped lay out a baseball field on a parcel of land in Makiki. That field introduced many of the basic rules and layout we still use today. There's a diamond-shaped field, 90-foot base paths, nine-player teams and nine-inning games.
That same field, which is now known as Cartwright Field, is still active 173 years later. Athletes of all ages play there and have made it a historic and living part of the community.
Cartwright wasn't just a sports pioneer. He was also a leader in Hawaiian civic life. He served as the first fire chief of Honolulu, served as a trustee at Queen's Hospital, advised Hawaiian royalty like Queen Emma and King David Kalākaua and helped found several major institutions that included what is now First Hawaiian Bank.
His story connects two worlds: the history of baseball in America and the rich cultural and political life of Hawaiʻi in the 1800s.Standing near the pitcher's mound was Anna Cartwright, Cartwright's great-great-granddaughter. Her voice was filled with pride and emotion as she honored her kūpuna and the connection her family still feels to this land.
'On behalf of my entire family and our beloved kūpuna, it is a profound honor to witness this historic moment,' she said. 'This tribute to my great-great-grandfather and the field he laid out 173 years ago reflects not only a significant chapter in baseball history, but also the enduring connection our family shares with this ʻāina and the community.'
She reminded the crowd that baseball in Hawaiʻi is more than just a game. It's about camaraderie, sportsmanship and joy. And those values are still alive at Cartwright Park today.
The celebration was a celebration of our unique history in Hawaii . It was also about the people who are keeping the field vibrant today. Mayor Blangiardi honored several groups and individuals for their hard work.
These includied the Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr., the Honolulu Fire Department and Mālama Kīpuka Hawai'i which is a local organization that helps maintain and improve the park.
Their work includes cleaning the grounds, upgrading the field, creating murals and installing signs that teach visitors about Cartwright's legacy. It's part of their kuleana, or responsibility, to care for the spaces that bring people together.
'Sports and recreation are essential to the well-being of our communities,' Blangiardi said. 'Cartwright Park continues to serve as a living tribute to Cartwright's extraordinary legacy and the enduring spirit of baseball in Hawai'i.'
Even though Cartwright died in 1892, his spirit lives on. At Oʻahu Cemetery, fans still leave baseballs, gloves and hoʻokupu (gifts of respect) at his grave. It's a reminder of how deeply he's remembered, not just for what he did for baseball, but for what he gave to Hawaiʻi.
This year, Mayor Blangiardi made it official: April 17 is now Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. Day in Honolulu.
Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8
So, the next time you hear 'play ball!' in Makiki, know that you're standing on the grass and dirt that are part of long legacy. You're standing on history, a history where key elements of modern baseball were shaped.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner are set for Hall of Fame induction
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19-year Major League Baseball career. For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much. 'Of course, I'm nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the field, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,' Suzuki said Saturday through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement. Suzuki is the first Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He will be joined Sunday by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen will be honored posthumously. They were voted in by the classic era committee. MLB has been profoundly impacted by Japan since Suzuki's arrival in 2001. His induction coincided with the opening of an exhibit at the Hall on Thursday entitled Yakyu/Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game, which celebrates the ways Japanese and American baseball are interconnected. It honors not just Suzuki but also pitcher Hideo Nomoi and current two-way star Shohei Otani. As interconnected as the two countries are, Suzuki does not want Japanese baseball to become a carbon copy of MLB. 'I don't think Japan should copy what MLB does. I think Japanese baseball should be Japanese baseball and the way they do things, and MLB should be the way they are. I think they should be different and not the same,' he said. Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami. He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256. Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is different. 'I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts. This time around, though, I didn't come to have one purpose to see something. I just wanted to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That's the difference this time around. 'This is the place where I'd come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again,' he said. For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY. A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia 'thought I wanted to be close to home,' but after 'pretending' the Yankees didn't offer him a contract on the first day of free agency, his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers following an in-home meeting with general manager Brian Cashman. 'My wife was the one that said: 'You're trying to do all these different things, figure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That's the one place they try to win every single year.' When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,' Sabathia said. 'And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yankees. He passed away when I was 23, so he wasn't there to tell me it was OK if I failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.' 'It feels like we're teammates. Obviously, Ichi and I were rookies together. I always say he stole my Rookie of the Year award (in 2001) so it's great to be able to go in the HOF with him and Billy,' Sabathia said. Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees. While Sabathia and Suzuki were elected in their first appearance on the ballot, Wagner made it on his 10th and final try. 'Well, after seeing how a lot of guys like Lee Smith and Ted Simmons and (other) guys had to wait their turn to get to this point and go through the veterans committee, and how hard it is to get in here, you know, it's well worth the wait,' Wagner said. Wagner, a seven-time All-Star, became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever, after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Mariano Rivera. Wagner is the only left-hander. Two others honored Saturday were longtime Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, and retired Washington Post sports writer and columnist Tom Boswell, who received the BBWAA Career Excellence Award. ___


Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner are set for Hall of Fame induction
Associated Press COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19-year Major League Baseball career. For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much. 'Of course, I'm nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the field, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,' Suzuki said Saturday through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement. Suzuki is the first Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He will be joined Sunday by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen will be honored posthumously. They were voted in by the classic era committee. MLB has been profoundly impacted by Japan since Suzuki's arrival in 2001. His induction coincided with the opening of an exhibit at the Hall on Thursday entitled Yakyu/Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game, which celebrates the ways Japanese and American baseball are interconnected. It honors not just Suzuki but also pitcher Hideo Nomoi and current two-way star Shohei Otani. As interconnected as the two countries are, Suzuki does not want Japanese baseball to become a carbon copy of MLB. 'I don't think Japan should copy what MLB does. I think Japanese baseball should be Japanese baseball and the way they do things, and MLB should be the way they are. I think they should be different and not the same,' he said. Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami. He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256. Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is different. 'I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts. This time around, though, I didn't come to have one purpose to see something. I just wanted to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That's the difference this time around. 'This is the place where I'd come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again,' he said. For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY. A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia 'thought I wanted to be close to home,' but after 'pretending' the Yankees didn't offer him a contract on the first day of free agency, his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers following an in-home meeting with general manager Brian Cashman. 'My wife was the one that said: 'You're trying to do all these different things, figure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That's the one place they try to win every single year.' When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,' Sabathia said. 'And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yankees. He passed away when I was 23, so he wasn't there to tell me it was OK if I failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.' Suzuki and Sabathia were teammates for more than two seasons, which makes their induction extra special. 'It feels like we're teammates. Obviously, Ichi and I were rookies together. I always say he stole my Rookie of the Year award (in 2001) so it's great to be able to go in the HOF with him and Billy,' Sabathia said. Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees. While Sabathia and Suzuki were elected in their first appearance on the ballot, Wagner made it on his 10th and final try. 'Well, after seeing how a lot of guys like Lee Smith and Ted Simmons and (other) guys had to wait their turn to get to this point and go through the veterans committee, and how hard it is to get in here, you know, it's well worth the wait,' Wagner said. Wagner, a seven-time All-Star, became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever, after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Mariano Rivera. Wagner is the only left-hander. Two others honored Saturday were longtime Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, and retired Washington Post sports writer and columnist Tom Boswell, who received the BBWAA Career Excellence Award. ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 2


Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
How to Watch Everton FC vs Bournemouth: Live Stream English Premier League, TV Channel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Everton FC takes on Bournemouth in preseason soccer action featuring one of the most prominent teams in the English Premier League. Making this game particularly exciting for soccer fans stateside is the fact that it will take place in the U.S., giving American soccer fans a great opportunity to watch their favorite teams play at a more reasonable hour. Antoine Semenyo of AFC Bournemouth scores his team's first goal from the penalty spot during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on February 8, 2025 in... Antoine Semenyo of AFC Bournemouth scores his team's first goal from the penalty spot during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on February 8, 2025 in Liverpool, England. More Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images How to Watch Everton FC vs. Bournemouth Date: Saturday, July 26, 2025 Time: 4:00 p.m. ET Venue: MetLife Stadium Channel: NBC Stream: Fubo (TRY FOR FREE) Everton is coming off a tough Premier League campaign in which it finished 13th on the table with 48 points in 38 matches, and an 11-15-12 season. The club had a minus-two goal differential on the campaign. It's been a tough preseason for Everton thus far, as the club has yet to win a game this summer, most recently falling 1-0 to the Blackburn Rovers, who play in the Championship, the second level of the English soccer hierarchy. Before that, Everton drew 1-1 against Accrington Stanley, which may sound like an insurance company but is a soccer team that plays on the fourth level of British soccer, EFL League Two. Needless to say, that was a troubling result for Everton. Can the Toffees begin to turn things around on Saturday when they take on Bournemouth? Or will Bournemouth keep Everton's summer of woes going today? Tune the channel to NBC at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon to catch some English Premier League soccer preseason action as Everton FC takes on Bournemouth. Live stream Everton FC vs. Bournemouth for free on Fubo: Start your subscription now! Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.