Yearly Archives: 2024

John Thorn Mentions Doc At ‘The Fred’

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In a post in his blog, Our Game (April 26, 2021), John Thorn detailed the talk he gave at SABR’s 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference. In ‘How We Got Here: 19th century baseball and why it matters‘, Thorn made a couple of mentions of Doc Adams: I have had a hand in much of this … except for the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legends, in which I vote but otherwise do not pop my head above the trench line. My MLB role militates against open advocacy though of course I hold briefs for Doc Adams, Jim … Continue reading →

Knickerbocker BBC Adopts 1st Uniform

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

The fifth annual meeting was held at Abell’s, 474 Broadway, on the 7th of April, 1849. The officers elected for the year, were : D. L. Adams, President ; Ed. W. Talman, Vice-President; Eugene Plunkett, Secretary; F. C. Niebuhr, Treasurer. Directors—E. E. Dupignac, A. H. Drummond, B. C. Lee. At a meeting held April 24, 1849, a uniform was adopted for the club, viz. blue woolen pantaloons, white flannel shirt, chip (straw) hats ; and it may here be mentioned that the blue and white has ever since remained the costume of the club. The straw hats were abolished some … Continue reading →

“Laws Of Base Ball” Sell For $3,263,246

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

On April 24, 2016, the last hours of the auction for the “Laws of Base Ball” authored by Doc Adams lived up to its billing and did not disappoint as the closing bid came in at $3,263,246 setting a new record for the highest priced baseball document. “Adams’s hand in the sport’s early rule-making is not a revelation; instead, it is the physical record of his central role memorialized in the three surviving pages of his document.” “Back on the Auction Block, a 19th-Century Document Essential to Baseball’s Rules”, Richard Sandomir, The New York Times (February 28, 2016) This compelling … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Eligible For Class of 2025!

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

On April 22, 2022, The National Baseball Hall of Fame again announced a restructuring of their Era committees. Per the Hall’s announcement: Highlighting these changes is a consolidation of eras into two timeframes – the Contemporary Baseball Era, consisting of the period from 1980 to present day, and the Classic Baseball Era, consisting of the period prior to 1980 and including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars. The Contemporary Baseball Era will split into two separate ballots – one ballot to consider only players who made their greatest impact on the game since 1980, and another composite ballot consisting of … Continue reading →

The League That Failed

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

“The League That Failed” (by David Quentin Voigt) cuts through the haze that surrounds 19th-century baseball history, and portrays a classic, colorful era when baseball was chaotic, struggled over by players, coaches, sportswriters, fans, and owners. It recounts the stormy atmosphere after the Inter-League Wars of 1890 and 1891, when the victorious National League made a bald-faced bid to monopolize major league baseball in the United States, succeeding for eight years with the self-styled “Big League,” which dominated the game while simultaneously gaining infamous notoriety for such high-handed acts as unilaterally capping players’ salaries, failing to protect umpires from physical … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Base Ball Card?

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

Yes, actually there are a couple of Doc Adams baseball cards. Ars Longa is the Latin translation of a phrase from an aphorism written by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The aphorism contains the phrase: ars longa, vita brevis, which is commonly translated as “Art is long, Life is short.” After finding the Ars Longa card, we were surprised to find another card. Tri-star Obak produced a card, #62 in the “Game Changers” subset of the set their 2010 set. There is a bit of controversy about the source of the photo used on this card as was reported in … Continue reading →

Baseball in the Time of Cholera (John Thorn)

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

We have previously shared Dr. Daniel Lucius Adams’ (Doc Adams) contributions during the New York Cholera epidemic of 1854. In his Our Game Blog on March 22, 2020, John Thorn (the official historian for MLB) provided much more context of the mid-1800s, New York epidemics in “Baseball in the Time of Cholera“.

Continue reading →

Yale And Harvard

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In 1830, Doc enrolled in Amherst College. In 1833, he transferred to Yale College from which he graduated in 1835.  Later that year, Doc entered Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1838.  It was at Harvard that Doc made the acquaintance of Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.) where they roomed at the same boarding house. “Having nothing to do at Commencement, it will be a considerable saving of both time and money not to attend.” Daniel Lucius Adams, June 29, 1835

Continue reading →

A Stroll Through Time…Ballard Park

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

Doc Adams was mentioned in an 068 Magazine March/April 2022 article. The article, “A Stroll Through Time“, by Jack Sanders is about “one of Ridgefield’s most historic pieces of land. Treasured today as a place of recreation and relaxation, Ballard Park has for centuries been a home of noteworthy people who’ve contributed to not only the town but also the nation.” Here’s more on Doc Adams’ Ridgefield residence, the Ridgefield Savings Bank, and the Ridgefield Library.

Continue reading →