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EL MITO DE ALEXANDER CARTWRIGHT COMO INVENTOR DEL BEISBOL Por CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ GÓMEZ [email protected]

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EL MITO DE ALEXANDER CARTWRIGHT COMO INVENTOR DEL BEISBOL Por CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ GÓMEZ Gutogonz@Gmail.Com EL MITO DE ALEXANDER CARTWRIGHT COMO INVENTOR DEL BEISBOL Por CÉSAR GONZÁLEZ GÓMEZ [email protected] INTRODUCCIÓN Una vez derrumbado el mito de Abner Doubleday como inventor del béisbol se recurre a la figura de Alexander Cartwright para encontrar la respuesta al orígen del juego. Hay una necesidad de ponerle nombre y apellidos a un supuesto inventor de algo que en realidad no nació por sí solo, sino que fue evolucionando desde otras centurias y otros continentes. El primer gran promotor que tuvo el juego, Henry Chadwick, dijo alguna vez que el béisbol “no tuvo padre, simplemente creció”. Entronizar a Alexander Cartwright al Salón de la Fama pareciera un acto de deslinde ante la figura de Abner Doubleday, quien no está entre los inmortales. Sin embargo, la investigación que renombrados historiadores del juego han venido haciendo sobre los Knickerbockers y Alexander Cartwright ha restado el protagonismo que, éste último, había recibido a lo largo del tiempo. Probablemente las 3 autoridades en investigación de los orígenes del juego sean John Thorn, Frederick Ivor-Campbell y David Block. Además, habría que sumar a Mónica Nucciarone, destacada académica que ha investigado a profundidad la vida de Alexander Cartwright y prepara su muy esperada biografía donde aclarará muchos de los mitos que se han generado alrededor de este personaje y su rol en la historia del juego. A lo largo del monumental trabajo que estos notables investigadores han hecho se ha podido documentar que ni Alexander Cartwright hizo todo lo que se le atribuye; ni los Knickerbockers inventaron por sí solos el béisbol pero que si hicieron una enorme contribución en mejora del juego; y que el béisbol se juega con ese nombre desde el siglo XVIII con algunas características ya de lo que hoy conocemos. La placa de Alexander Cartwright en el Salón de la Fama de Cooperstown reza lo siguiente: ALEXANDER JOY CARTWRIGHT, JR. "PADRE DEL BASE BALL MODERNO" COLOCÓ LAS BASES A 90 PIES DE DISTANCIA. ESTABLECIÓ 9 INNINGS COMO JUEGO Y 9 JUGADORES COMO EQUIPO. ORGANIZÓ EL KNICKERBOCKER BASEBALL CLUB DE NUEVA YORK EN 1845. LLEVÓ EL BASEBALL A LA COSTA DEL PACÍFICO Y A HAWAII EN LOS DÍAS PIONEROS. [1] John Thorn, el legendario historiador del beisbol, remata lo dicho en la placa con una sola frase: “Cada palabra es una mentira, incluyendo ‘y’ y ‘el’” [2] A través de los puntos de vista de este poker de grandes investigadores iremos analizando la figura de Alexander Cartwright, su verdadero rol histórico y la importancia de los Knickerbockers en la evolución del béisbol. EL LLAMADO “MITO CARTWRIGHT” Se le atribuye a Alexander Cartwright el haberse “arrodillado en la tierra para dibujar” el conjunto de 20 reglas que usaría el Knickerbockers Base Ball Club de la ciudad de Nueva York. Todo esto en Septiembre de 1845. Esta foto es la única que parece existir de los Knickerbockers originales o, al menos, de algunos de sus miembros. La foto fue tomada en 1847. En la fila superior en medio, aparece Alexander Cartwright. Fumando un puro en la fila inferior aparece Doc Adams, y a su izquierda Duncan Curry. Según esta misma creencia, Cartwright invitó a sus compañeros a formar un club debidamente establecido y, al consumarse esto, fungió como umpire en el primer juego celebrado por el nuevo club en Junio de 1846. Como leíamos en su placa del Salón de la Fama y, de acuerdo a la leyenda, este personaje sería responsable de colocar las bases a 90 pies de distancia, fijar 9 innings como la duración de un juego y 9 jugadores para saltar al campo. Con la llamada fiebre del Oro que brotó en California, Cartwright cruzó en un convoy de diligencias todo el país desde Nueva York, e iba practicando el béisbol en cada pueblo en que paraban. Así habría llegado el juego a California, según el diario de viaje presuntamente escrito por el propio Cartwright. Sin embargo, no estaría mucho tiempo en California y viajó a Hawai llevando el juego consigo y enseñándolo a los nativos de aquellas islas. [3] Todo un apóstol del béisbol, según estas creencias. Sin embargo, las más recientes investigaciones en el tema no han encontrado evidencia alguna para probar las afirmaciones anteriores, con la excepción de que, efectivamente, fue idea de Cartwright formalizar la existencia de los Knickerbockers y convertirlo en un club de Base Ball con todas las de la ley. SOBRE SU AUTORÍA DE LAS REGLAS DE JUEGO La placa en Cooperstown dice que Alexander Cartwright “colocó las bases a 90 pies de distancia”. En realidad la medida en pies no se usó en la redacción original de las reglas de los Knickerbockers. Recordemos que, aunque este primer conjunto de reglas se estableció en Septiembre de 1845, no se han encontrado ediciones impresas de aquel primer reglamento. Sin embargo, si existen ediciones de 1848, año en que fueron re editadas. La Regla 4 es la que se ocupa de la distancia entre las bases. Y dice así: “Las bases deberán estar de home a segunda base, 42 pasos; de primera a tercera base, 42 pasos, equidistantes” [4] El investigador David Block, en su monumental obra “Baseball Before We Knew It”, asegura que “desde los días del Imperio Romano, la longitud de un paso había sido convenida en 2.5 pies. Según esta medida, la distancia establecida entre las bases por los Knickerbockers sería de 75 pies.” [5] El mismo Block matiza que algunos historiadores aseguran que la medida del paso era de 3 pies, lo cual se aproximaría más a la medida de 90 pies. Sin embargo, refiere la definición de paso publicada en el diccionario Noah Webster de 1828 donde se asegura que “es la distancia entre las 2 piernas al caminar, estimado en 2.5 pies”. [6] No sería sino hasta la Convención de Base Ball de 1857 en que quedaría definida la distancia de 90 pies. [7] No olvidemos que Alexander Cartwright se había mudado a Hawai desde 1849. Otra de las imprecisiones que aparecen en la multicitada placa de Cooperstown le atribuye la implementación de los 9 innings para finiquitar el juego. [8] La única regla que habla de la duración del juego en el reglamento original de los Knickerbockers es la número 8: “El juego consistirá de 21 conteos, o ases; pero a la conclusión el mismo número de oportunidades deben jugarse” [9] En ningún momento se afirma o se puede inferir que existiera una duración de 9 innings. Por el contrario, al momento en que un equipo llegaba a 21 conteos o ases, el juego terminaba. Si el equipo en desventaja tenía una oportunidad al bat restante la tomaba, si no lograba empatar los 21 registros del rival el juego concluía. No olvidemos que, en lo que se considera el primer juego bajo estas reglas, los Knickerbockers perdieron 23 a 1 en 3 innings. En el reglamento no se utiliza la palabra carrera, sino que se utiliza conteo o as, aunque el término carrera ya era utilizado. Nuevamente, será hasta la Convención de 1857 cuando se fijen los 9 innings como plazo para concluir el juego, sin importar la diferencia de anotaciones. Por último, la placa también le atribuye haber especificado en 9 el número de peloteros en el campo. La única regla original que habla sobre la conformación de los equipos es la número 6: “Si no hubiera el suficiente número de miembros del Club presentes al tiempo acordado para comenzar el ejercicio, los caballeros no miembros pueden ser seleccionados para completar el juego, y no deberán salir para que entren aquellos miembros que después pudieran aparecer; pero en todos los casos, los miembros deberán tener la preferencia, cuando estén presentes, en la conformación del equipo.”[10] Como se puede apreciar no hay un decreto en cuanto al número de peloteros en el campo. John Thorn afirma que en sus primeros años los Knickerbockers “típicamente jugaban con 8 hombres por equipo” [11] y además “casi nunca jugaron con 9 hombres, sino que llegaron a usar tan pocos como 7 y tantos como 11 peloteros en el campo”. [12] La posición de shortstop se instituyó en 1849 o 1850 (con Cartwright ya en Hawai), pero no ocupaba la posición en que hoy lo conocemos, sino que era un jardinero más cercano que fungía como relevo en los tiros desde los jardines al cuadro pues la bola era mucho mas pesada y dificultaba los tiros largos. No existe evidencia, entonces, de que Alexander Cartwright haya tenido la inventiva y ni siquiera injerencia en el desarrollo de las 3 reglas que Cooperstown le atribuye. Se dice también que Cartwright es el autor de las demás reglas, pero ni siquiera era miembo del comité de reglas que el club tenía. Otro notable historiador, Frederick Ivor-Campbell, sostiene que “Cartwright no era miembro del comité de reglas de los Knickerbockers o, al menos, no era él ninguno de los 2 peloteros identificados como tales en las reglas, tal como fueron reimpresas en Peverelly (1866) o en alguna de las versiones de las reglas de 1845 que he visto.” [13] En Junio 19 de 1846, los Knickerbockers jugaron el que está considerado como el primer juego bajo su nuevo conjunto de reglas. Es curioso que Alexander Cartwright no jugó aquel partido, de la misma manera que es curioso que fueran apaleados 23 a 1 por el New York Base Ball Club. Otra de las creencias radica en que Cartwright fungió como umpire en ese juego. Luego de consultar los archivos que se conservan de los Knickerbockers, la investigadora Monica Nucciarone encuentra que Cartwright no firmó el renglón destinado al umpire en la tarjeta de aquel día.
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