Monthly Archives: May 2023

The Fly Game: Knickerbockers Vs. The Excelsiors

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In the May 29, 1859 issue of The Sunday Mercury, a weekly New York newspaper that extensively covered the expanding world of base ball playing, an untitled paragraph announced the possibility of a forthcoming game that would be strikingly different from all others played during the past few years: “We have heard it rumored — we do not know with what truth — that the Knickerbocker Club, of this city, will shortly play a match with the Excelsior Club, of Brooklyn, in which they will repudiate catching the ball upon the bound.” William Cauldwell, the editor of the newspaper, predicted … Continue reading →

Doc Musings

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“He’s the true father of baseball and you’ve never heard of him.” John Thorn, Official Historian of MLB “Well you know Doc saved baseball.” Fred Ivor Campbell, noted baseball historian and author “Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection.” Red Smith, sportswriter “I indulge the hope that the ‘spirit’ you express of being with us always, may be accompanied by the body on the old Play Grounds. Playing commences on the 21st. James Whyte Davis, baseball pioneer, Knickerbocker Base Ball Club “Resolved, that to him as much if not … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Elected Knickerbockers’ Vice-President

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The Knickerbockers held elections annually to determine who would serve as officials. At the club’s second election, held on May 5, 1846, Adams was named the Knickerbockers’ vice president. At an April 1847 meeting, he became the president of the team, and was re-elected in 1848 and 1849. He was the leader of a “Committee to Revive the Constitution and By-Laws” of baseball in 1848.

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The Knickerbocker Experience Tentative 2023 Schedule

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”The Knickerbocker Experience”, offers an opportunity to “experience” the game as it was originally played.  “Rules aren’t bent” or “exceptions made” to make it work.  The intent is to provide a historically accurate game of base ball by playing the game as it was played in 1858, 1864 or 1865.  The goal is to provide people with a chance to try playing it or watching it, unrestricted by “variations or customs” – just pure base ball.as it was meant to be. The Knickerbocker Experience’s had a successful inaugural season in 2022 and they are looking to follow it up with … Continue reading →