Since some folks have forgotten, so just wanted to share what the National Baseball Hall of Fame was saying in 2016.

A talented player in baseball’s earliest days who became a pioneering force on a multitude of fronts in baseball’s nascent years. Adams, who became a member of the famed Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845, helped standardize the game’s tools and contributed to the establishment of the shortstop position.

“2016 Pre-Integration Committee Candidates“, BaseballHall.org

In the mid-19th century, Doc Adams was first introduced to “base ball,” a sporting activity with rules and regulations that varied from team to team. A few decades later, this figure from the game’s nascent years would be called by many the “Father of Baseball” due to his important contributions in turning the sport into the National Pastime. …

As a leading figure in these formative times, Adams played an important part in the evolution of the sport. In helping to establish such recognizable aspects of the game as having nine players per team, the nine-inning game, 90 feet between bases, and catching the ball on the fly rather than being able to catch the ball on a bounce for an out, he can lay claim as an important early figure.

“Doc Adams Helped Shape Baseball’s Earliest Days“, BaseballHall.org

By the way, also remember that Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball” were rediscovered a couple of months after Doc fell 2 votes short of election. And what of the Laws?

This compelling artifact surely establishes that Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams as a key Founding Father of baseball deserving to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Having come up merely 2 votes short of election in 2016, it would seem that this evidence, written in Doc’s own hand, should convince ALL the members of the Early Baseball Era Committee to vote for Doc Adams in December and finally acknowledge his place in baseball history.

Roger J. Ratzenberger, Jr

Doc Adams “is baseball’s most important figure not in the Hall of Fame.”

With the recent discovery of his ‘Laws of Base Ball’ we have tangible primary evidence of his genius. More than anyone else, he created our game of nine innings, nine men, and ninety-foot base paths.

“5 Inventors”, Our Game, John Thorn