On the spot, the officials decided they needed a figurehead to harness this patriotism and naturally, to stamp down those damned Limeys and for the Great Creator they looked no further than Doubleday, a heroic major general from the Civil War. They shamelessly formed a commission and, as their overwhelming evidence, they held up a single letter sent in by a pal of Doubleday who insisted that he was present when Doubleday, as a schoolboy, persuaded his mates to try out his new rules in a friendly slog on a cow pasture in the middle of Cooperstown.

That New York village boasts only 2,000 inhabitants, but is a household name in the country because of the association. Doubleday Field yes, the poor cows were turfed out when the farm was inevitably developed still stages exhibition matches and two blocks up the road, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has welcomed more than 17 million visitors.

And what makes it all the more confusing is in that Hall of Fame there is no mention of Doubleday but a plaque honouring Cartwright as, guess what, The Father of Baseball.

So whose side are you on: Alexanders or Abners? Or maybe you are sane and recognise that entire sports cannot be created like say, the telephone or the lightbulb, in a Eureka! moment.

Read this article:
Dispute over baseball's originator rages on pointlessly - you might as well ask: who invented fire? - Telegraph.co.uk