Yearly Archives: 2025

1860 NABBP Convention

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The Rules Committee, chaired by Dr. Daniel Adams of the Knickerbockers, had met in February to make recommendations to the convention on rule changes, and Adams reported that the committee was unanimously in favor of the fly game. A debate then ensued, with Judge Van Cott supporting the bound version and Dakin and Frank Pidgeon of the Eckfords arguing in favor of the fly game. Thirty-seven delegates voted for the fly game while 55 voted against it. For another year, at least as far as the official rules were concerned, the bound game would be the game of National Association … Continue reading →

Spreading Doc Adams Awareness in Japan

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Not long ago I received an email from Tetsuro Tanino, a staffwriter for a Japanese newspaper, the The Tokyo Shimbun. He was “in the process of researching baseball shortstop and learned that Daniel Adams was the world’s first shortstop.” He had asked to use Doc’s picture and just recently sent a copy of the article (see below) with a note (translated by an AI translator). He said that, “The article is about 170 years ago, there was a wonderful man named Daniel Adams in the United States, and he was the first person to defend the shortstop in baseball. Baseball … Continue reading →

“The Father of Baseball”: A Biography of Henry Chadwick

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Henry Chadwick remains one of the titans of baseball history. As a pioneering baseball journalist and author, an innovator of scorekeeping practices and statistics, and chairman of the first rules committee, Chadwick left an indelible mark on the history of the game. This deeply researched biography is the first book-length work on the Hall of Famer, known at the time of his death as the “Father of Base Ball.” It covers Chadwick’s driving role in the symbiotic rise of baseball and sports journalism, and demonstrates how Chadwick helped baseball to become firmly established as an American cultural institution. Appendices provide … Continue reading →

2nd Base Ball Convention Convened

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On March 10, 1858 the 2nd Base Ball convention was held in New York. The chairman named the following committees: On Rules: D.L. Adams, C. Place, Jr., T.G. Voorhis, G. Van Cott, T.F. Jackson, W.A. Sears, Francis Pidgeon, W. Cauldwell, A.B. Taylor. “Baseball’s 19th Century Winter Meetings, 1857-1900, SABR, Robert Tholkes (2018) Logically, the meeting before the 1858 season would concentrate on fine-tuning the 1857 changes after a season’s experience with them. Proposals not accepted in 1857 would resurface, among them the “fly rule,” called strikes and the use of flat bats. Also, contentiousness over which was the “champion club” … Continue reading →

Remembering The First Baseball Convention

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On March 7, 2023, Fox News recalled 166th anniversary of the first national convention of base ball players. In the article, “On this day in history, March 7, 1857, baseball adopts nine players, nine innings as standard of competition“, The article does, albeit briefly, mention Doc Adams: The forgotten titan of the game is Cartwright’s fellow Knickerbocker Daniel “Doc” Adams, say baseball historians. “Considered by some to be the true ‘Father of Baseball,’ ‘Doc’ Adams was elected president of the first Base Ball Convention in 1857,” Miklich writes. “On this day in history, March 7, 1857, baseball adopts nine players, nine … Continue reading →

Base Ball Arithmetic

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Doc’s father, Daniel Adams MD (1773-1864) was born in Townsend, Massachusetts and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1797 and from the second class of Dartmouth Medical School in 1799. As well as being a practicing physician, he also authored widely used arithmetic and geography textbooks (the former was in use from 1801 to c.1864). In the measurement section of his Arithmetic book, question # 11 (below) is of particular interest. Someone who would have no difficulty solving that problem was his son, Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams. Doc Adams started playing base ball in 1839. He played for … Continue reading →

Memoirs Of The Father Of Base Ball

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On February 29, 1896, the Sporting News published an article on Dr. D. L. Adams sub-titled ‘Memoirs of the Father of Base Ball’. The article is based on an interview of Doc and details his contributions to the nascent National Pastime. In a pleasant home on quiet Edwards street, lives Dr. Daniel L. Adams, who undoubtedly, more than any other man in the country, is entitled to be called the Father of Base Ball. His brother-in-law, William S. Briggs of Keene, N.H., makes this claim for him, and the facts bear it out. Dr. Adams was born in Mt. Vernon, … Continue reading →

Doc Appointed Delegate To The 1st Convention Of Base Ball Clubs

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At a meeting held February 27, 1858, Messrs. D. L. Adams and W. H. Grenelle were appointed delegates to the first convention of Base Ball Clubs, to be held on the 10th of March. The first meeting of the Convention was held on the 10th of March, 1858, and the following clubs represented by two delegates each : Knickerbocker, Gotham, Eagle, Empire, Putnam, Baltic, Excelsior, Atlantic, Harlem, Eckford, Continental, Union, Metropolitan, Columbian, Osceola, Oriental, Stuyvesant, Hamilton, Pastime, Liberty (of New Brunswick), Monument, Amity, St Nicholas, Nassau, and Mutual. A resolution was adopted declaring the Convention a permanent organization, and a … Continue reading →

Rules Adopted!

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The 1857 Convention of Base Ball Players met for the second and final time on February 25 at Smith’s Hotel, the headquarters of the Knickerbocker Club, with the following clubs represented: Knickerbocker, Gotham, Eagle, Empire, Putnam, Baltic, Excelsior, Atlantic, Harmony, Harlem, Eckford, Bedford, Narrau, and Continental. The clubs elected Daniel Adams of the Knickerbockers as president of the convention and then appointed a rules committee, made up of one member of each represented club. This was perhaps the most important meeting in the history of baseball. It was a meeting of the baseball clubs of New York City, and unlike … Continue reading →