The Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. will meet Thursday at 11 a.m. at Oahu Cemetery to celebrate his contributions to baseball and Hawai'i.

Cartwright, who died July 12, 1892, is credited with establishing some of modern baseball's major rules such as 90 feet between bases, nine innings per game and nine players to a team.

He was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1938.

Cartwright Jr. was from New York, but made Honolulu his adopted home. He also made many civic contributions to Hawai'i. He was one of Honolulu's first fire chiefs, helped found the State Library System and Reading Room, served on the board of The Queen's Medical Center and was associated with Bishop Bank (now First Hawaiian Bank).

On April 17, 2005, The Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. placed an 80-pound plaque at the family's headstone at Oahu Cemetery. The plaque, as well as the one in the Hall of Fame, credit Cartwright Jr. as "The Founding Father of Baseball." The plaque here also mentions his civic contributions to the state.

The group will meet at the Cartwright family headstone and a short program will follow. The public is welcomed to attend. The program will include words on Cartwright Jr. and his contributions. Also, former Honolulu Advertiser staff writer Ferd Borsch, a long-time baseball enthusiast who died in 2006, will be remembered. Information on The Cartwright Cup, which will be awarded to the state high school baseball champion, and an Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. postage stamp being worked on by Lew Matlin will be shared.

Oahu Cemetery is located at 2162 Nu'uanu Ave.

For more information on the gathering, call Matlin at 921-3487.