Category Archives: 2024

Doc Adams Base Ball Biography (Recognition)

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Some recent highlights: 2011: John Thorn ‘re-discovers’ Doc Adams in his classic, “Baseball in the Garden of Eden”. 2011: Friends of Vintage Base Ball sponsor Doc Adams Day 2014: Selected as SABR’s Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legend 2015: The Old Time Base Ball Fesival held at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, the longest running annual Vintage Base Ball Festival of its kind, was renamed Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival. 2016: Appeared on The National Baseball Hall of Fame Pre-Integration Era ballot, garnering 10 of 12 votes necessary for election. 2017: Inaugural Doc Adams Birthplace Classic Vintage Base Ball … Continue reading →

The 2024 Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival

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The 2024 Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival was held last weekend (August 3-4) at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. In 2015, this longest running annual vintage base ball festival of its kind was renamed in honor of Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams. This year’s festival once again lived up its reputation as a must see for baseball fans, history buffs, and anyone looking for a day of outdoor fun. It was hot, hot, hot and the ballists and cranks did their best to keep cool and stay hydrated. But even the heat couldn’t put a damper on the event … Continue reading →

Jay Jaffe (Fan Graphs) Expresses Support

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Jay Jaffe of Fan Graphs has expressed his support several times for the induction of Doc Adams into the National Hall of Fame. He made a good point back in January 2020. Here’s some thoughts from Jay Jaffe in Sports Illustrated back in December 2015: Doc Adams, pioneer Roll over, Abner Doubleday, and tell Alexander Cartwright the news. No less an authority than MLB official historian John Thorn called Daniel Lucius Adams “first among the Fathers of Baseball” in a 1993 essay for Total Baseball and “the most significant figure in the early history of baseball” in his 2011 book … Continue reading →

The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870

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The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 by Marshall D. Wright is a history of the N.A.B.B.P. and has a couple of references to Doc Adams as well as several box scores. The two extracts are shown after Amazon’s description of the book:: Before the onset of professional baseball, there existed a myriad of teams and players going back to the 1840s. The early years centered around an organization known as the National Association of Base Ball Players. This group, the antecedents of which date to 1857, governed the world of baseball until the formation of the first all-professional … Continue reading →

2017 Facebook Live: Marjorie Adams And Tom Fesolowich

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With the 27th Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival kicking off today at the Old Bethpage Restoration Village, it seemed like a good time for a flashback to 2017 when Marjorie Adams sat down with Tom “Big Bat” Fesolowich to discuss her great-grandfather, baseball pioneer, Doc Adams.

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Do You Know Doc Adams? (Chapter 2: The Laws of Base Ball)

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With the Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival kicking off tomorrow, our thoughts are on the baseball pioneer we honor and hope that he will be a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025. #DocAdamsHOF This is the 2nd chapter of Do You Know Doc Adams (Chapter 1: He was more than a player).

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Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival This Weekend

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The 27th installment of the Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival will take place tomorrow and Sunday, August 3-4, at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. In 2015, this longest running annual vintage base ball festival of its kind was renamed in honor of Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams. The festival is a must for baseball fans, history buffs, and anyone looking for a a day of outdoor fun. This year, The Kickerbocker Experience will be making its 3rd appearance at the festival. The club’s goal is to provide a memorable “Experience” that honors Doc Adams and the Knickerbockers. If you … Continue reading →

Doc Adams – SABR’s Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend

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On July 31, 2014, Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams (1814 – 1899) was selected as the 19th Century Overlooked Baseball Legend by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). This recognition came in the bi-centennial of his birth. Each year SABR honors a 19th century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Adams joined the New York Base Ball Club in 1840. By 1845, he became a member of the famed Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and was elected as its president two years later. In 1848, he … Continue reading →

Annual Old Time Base Ball Festival Renamed in Honor of Doc Adams

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The Old Time Base Ball Festival held at Old Bethpage Village Restoration is the longest running Vintage Base Ball Festival of its kind having its inaugural event in 1997. Teams from across the country come to play various different versions of old-time base ball from the 1850s to 1890s. Starting in 1979 as a Civil War reenactment, it evolved into a recreation of the 1864 base ball league made up of teams that existed on the island back in that time period. Players wear vintage uniforms and participate in the sport following the rules and customs of the 19th century … Continue reading →

Why Is The Foul Pole Fair?

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Autho Vince Staten references Doc Adams in his book, “Why Is The Foul Pole Fair?” In addition to the quoted below, he also highlights excerpts from the seminal 1896 Sporting News interview. So, they made it official, this gentlemen’s club, composed of seventeen merchants, twelve clerks, five brokers, four professional men, a bank teller, a “Segar Dealer”, a hatter, a cooperage owner, and several “gentlemen”. they elected Daniel L. “Doc” Adams, a physician, their president. As president of the newly minted Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, Adams saw a need for a set of formal rules, so he put together a … Continue reading →