The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. Founded as the "Knickerbocker Base Ball Club" by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, the team remained active until the early 1870s. In 1851, the New York Knickerbockers wore the first ever recorded baseball uniforms. Origins and rules While a member of the volunteer Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 12, Alexander Joy Cartwright became involved in playing town ball (an older game similar to baseball) with the Gotham Club of New York at Murray Hill in Manhattan. In 1845, several members of the Gothams felt the club had grown too large for their "fastidious" tastes, and broke away to create an invitation-only ball club. They found a playing field, the Elysian Fields, a large tree-filled parkland across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey run by Colonel John Stevens, which charged $75 a year to rent. In order to pay the rental fees, Cartwright organized a ball club so that he could collect the needed money. The club was named the "Knickerbockers", in honor of the fire company of which Cartwright was a member. The Knickerbockers club was organized on September 23, 1845. The first officers were Duncan F. Curry, president, William R. Wheaton, vice-president, and William H. Tucker, secretary-treasurer. Creating a club for the ball players called for a formal set of rules for each member to adhere to, foremost among them to "have the reputation of a gentleman". Wheaton and Tucker formalized the Knickerbocker Rules, a set of twenty rules for the team: Members must strictly observe the time agreed upon for exercise, and be punctual in their attendance. When assembled for exercise, the President, or in his absence, the Vice-President, shall appoint an umpire, who shall keep the game in a book provided for that purpose, and note all violations of the By-Laws and Rules during the time of exercise. The presiding officer shall designate two members as Captains, who shall retire and make the match to be played, observing at the same time that the players opposite to each other should be as nearly equal as possible, the choice of sides to be then tossed for, and the first in hand to be decided in like manner. The bases shall be from "home" to second base, forty-two paces; from first to third base, forty-two paces,