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

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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.” This compelling artifact surely establishes that Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams is unequivocally a key Founding Father of baseball and deserves to be enshrined … Continue reading →

Doc Resigns From The Knickerbockers

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On March 26, 1862, Doc tendered his resignation from the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, “… although absent in body, I shall be present in spirit. My interest in the Club will never cease, nor can I forget the many happy hours spent in communion with its members.” James Whyte Davis, the KBBC secretary, accepted his resignation, “I indulge the hope that the ‘spirit’ you express of being with us as always, may be accompanied by the body on the old Play Grounds. Playing commences on the 21st.” Doc was made an honorary member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and … 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. More on this can  be read at “Memoirs of The Father of Base Ball“.

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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 →

Proposing a Pioneers Committee

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First of all congratulations to the Hall of Fame Class of 2018. On the day that the 2018 Hall of Class was filled out adding Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vlad Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman to Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, a great article appeared n Yahoo Sports.  In Rob Neyer’s article, “Marvin Miller is the poster boy for a larger Baseball Hall of Fame dilemma“, he proposes that the Hall of Fame should create a Pioneers Committee to address the Hall’s “problem with people who made enormous, perhaps revolutionary contributions to baseball, but don’t quite fit into one of the … Continue reading →

1857 Convention of Base Ball Players

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The 1857 Convention of Base Ball Players met for the first time on January 22 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 the previous … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Finally Appears On Hall of Fame Ballot But Falls 2 Votes Short

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On December 7, 2015,  the Pre-integration Era Committee announced the results of the voting on the 10 candidates on the 2016 ballot at the MLB Winter Meetings. Candidates needed to receive 12 of 16 votes (75%) for election. The committee failed to elect any one of the 10 candidates. Doc Adams received the highest vote total,  just 2 shy of the required votes required for election. This was Doc’s first time appearing on a Hall of Fame ballot. Although he was not elected THIS time, being the top vote getter, so close to election, was a major accomplishment. As recently as … Continue reading →

Porter’s Spirit of the Times (Dec 6, 1956)

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On December 6, 1857, Porter’s Spirit of the Times published an article on the rules of base ball. It also highlighted several of the principal players of the Knickerbockers’ “First Nine”, including Doc Adams. At a Knickerbocker meeting held that day, Doc “stated that the object to be the propriety of altering the By-Laws, and of calling a general Base Ball Convention. This seems to he the first step which originated the present ‘National Association of Base Ball Players’.” The convention would be held at 462 Broome street, in the city of New York, on Thursday the 22d day of January … Continue reading →