2022 Michigan Vintage Base Ball Festival Remembers Marjorie Adams

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The 2022 Michigan Vintage Base Ball Festival was held June 24-26 in Frankenmuth, MI. As usual, it was successful festival and a grand time was had by all. The Cornhuskers Base Ball Club of Canton successfully defended the Michigan State Cup twice defeating the Bear Clan BBC of Flat Rock, MI and Walker Tavern Wheels of Brooklyn, MI. The following Kings were “crowned”: King of Clubs – Captain’s Match Most Valuable Ballist: Mark Pisanello, The Crossing Rails BBC of Alliance, OH King of Diamonds – Gingerly Gentleman: Joe Terwilliger, Cornshuckers Base Ball Club of Canton, MI King of Spades – … Continue reading →

“Laws of Base Ball” Debuted At The Oregon Historical Society

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The Oregon Historical Society’s Baseball’s Magna Carta: Setting the Rules of America’s Game Exhibit opened on July 1, 2016. The public debut of the “Laws of Base Ball” authored by Doc Adams which sold, at auction, for a baseball document record $3,263,246. The papers were first exhibited in Portland because the new owner, who chooses to remain anonymous, is a “friend of the historical society.” The documents “thoroughly change the early history of baseball,” the historical society states. The 1857 documents are the “first written-down rules of what became the modern game,” Oregon Historical Society Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk told … Continue reading →

2024 Events Planned In Honor of Doc Adams

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Here’s some advance notice of events planned in honor of Doc Adams this year. A calendar of events we are aware of can be found in this calendar – stay tuned as events are added. Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival (dedicated 2015) – Old Bethpage, NY (August 3 – 4) Doc Adams Birthplace Classic (est. 2016) – Mont Vernon, NH (September 28) The Knickerbocker Experience (est. 2022) * Gettysburg Nineteenth Century Baseball Festival – Gettysburg, PA (July 20-21) * Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival – Old Bethpage, NY (August 3-4) * Doc Adams Birthplace Classic – … Continue reading →

Baseball Historian Graham Womack On Doc Adams

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As a historian, I care about accuracy and preserving what really happened in baseball’s history. Enshrining Doc Adams in the Hall of Fame would be a great way to honor this. The creator of this website, Roger J. Ratzenberger, Jr. does a nice job of summing up Adams’ accomplishments. I’ll offer them here for anyone who hasn’t read that post yet. Essentially, Adams, the president of New York City’s Knickerbocker Base Ball Club led a committee that codified various rules for the game, including that bases were to be 90 feet apart, games were to last nine innings and teams … Continue reading →

The Greater New York Sports Chronology

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Jeffrey A. Kroessler’s comprehensive and entertaining time line stretches from the pastoral entertainments of the Dutch to the corporate captivity of professional sports. He chronicles events ranging from the truly heroic to the heartbreaking, from moments of municipal greatness to inescapable social change. Through it all he plants the world of sport at the very center of New York’s story Columbia University Press Doc Adams is mentioned several times in Jeffrey A. Kroessler’s book, “The Greater New York Sports Chronology“:

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Doc Adams Base Ball Biography (Preface)

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For the next several weeks, we will recount Doc’s base ball (yes, it was two words when Doc played) biography to provide more information to those who may wonder who this 19th century Doctor was and why it is unconscionable that he is not being considered for enshrinement in baseball’s “hallowed hall”. Before we get into his base ball career next week, we’ll start with a preamble of his early life in his post. Daniel Lucius Adams was born in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire on November 1, 1814 to Dr. Daniel Adams MD and Nancy Mulliken.  It is not known … Continue reading →

Jay Jaffe on Doc Adams’ Hall Chances

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In 2020, Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs again showed support for Doc Adams’ inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Hopefully, the committee does better homework than it did last time when Doc came up 2 votes short for election. Since the last time Doc was eligible, the discovery of his handwritten “Laws of Base Ball” was announced. This document sold at auction for $3,263,246, setting a new record for the highest priced baseball document. It was also featured in the Baseball Americana exhibit at the library of Congress. “Adams’s hand in the sport’s early rule-making is not a revelation; … Continue reading →

The Father Of The National Game Still Living In New Haven

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So far the earliest reference we have found referring to Dr. Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams, M.D. as a “Father of Baseball” in June 23, 1895. That was 12 years before the Mills Commission created the Doubleday myth and 43 years before Alexander Cartwright was elected into the Hall of Fame. This article predates the seminal Sporting News interview by 8 months. This article was in a column called “Side Lights On The Ball Field” in the Chicago Chronicle. The piece teases the article with “The Father of the National Game Still Living In New Haven” and starts out with “Father … Continue reading →

Major League Baseball Profiles

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David Nemec, American baseball historian, novelist and playwright, provides an interesting profile of Doc Adams in his book, “Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 2: The Hall of Famers and Memorable Personalities Who Shaped the Game“. This 2-volume series is described as: More than a collection of mere facts and statistics, Major League Baseball Profiles provides a unique history of the evolution of major league baseball, from the date of the first major league game in 1871 through the 1900 season, which marked not only the close of a century but also the unofficial end of what many believe to be the … Continue reading →