Doc Adams should have been elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame a LONG time ago. In 2015, his first time on any Hall of Fame ballot, he got the most votes but fell TWO votes short in the Pre-Integration Era Committee’s voting. Quite frankly, it’s nothing short of a TRAVESTY at this juncture that this man is not enshrined alongside the other greats of baseball.

Just SOME of Doc’s contributions to the game: 1) setting the distance between bases at 90 feet 2) an early advocate for nine inning games/nine players per side 3) putting in place the “fly game”, i.e. not to allow balls caught on bounces to count as outs 4) creating the position of shortstop and 5) the first umpire to call non-swinging strike outs.

He also made the balls and oversaw the making of the bats in baseball’s earliest days, when none were available commercially (no bats, no balls, no baseball)! And he was BY FAR the most active baseball “executive” of his day.

Again, a “no-brainer” if there ever was one; if the ‘powers that be’ are made FULLY aware of how this guy truly shaped the “American pastime”, then Doc Adams should FINALLY get his rightful place in baseball’s shrine in Cooperstown at this year’s Winter Meetings……..

Bob Lazzari
Sports Columnist, Sports Talk Show Host

This is part of our “Speaking of Doc” series.