The Physician As A Sportsman

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

The November 16, 1956 edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association, contained Allan J. Ryan, M.D.’s article “The Physician as a Sportsman” which referenced the good doctor. D. L. Adams and James R. Purdy were members of the old Knickerbocker Baseball (sic) Club in New York, one of the last strongholds of the amateur game. “The Physician as a Sportsman”, The Journal of the American Medical Association (Nov 17, 1956), Allan J. Ryan, M.D.

Continue reading →

The Daniel “Doc” Adams Affair

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

An interesting, somewhat provocative article was published on Ethics Alarms in 2021. The following excerpt highlights Marjorie’s efforts: This fiasco of historical incompetence and bias is highlighted today because it was announced that Marjorie Adams, the great-granddaughter of Daniel “Doc” Adams, died earlier this month. She had been laboring for years to get “Doc”—yes, he was a real M.D.— the recognition he deserved and to see him finally inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. She lobbied for him on a website, at conferences, at meetings of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and at vintage baseball … Continue reading →

Doc Marries Cornelia

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

Daniel Lucius Adams and Cornelia Cook married on May 7, 1861, and they remained together until Adams’ death in 1899. The couple had five children; the first, a son named Charles, died less than a month after his birth in 1864. The others, two sons (Frank and Roger) and two daughters (Catharine and Mary), were born between 1866 and 1874.   “My marriage was the crowning achievement of my life.” – Daniel Lucius Adams, MD Biographical & Historical Record of the Class of 1835 in Yale College (1881)

Continue reading →

Doc Adams Elected Knickerbockers’ Vice-President

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

The Knickerbockers held elections annually to determine who would serve as officials. At the club’s second election, held on May 5, 1846, Adams was named the Knickerbockers’ vice president. At an April 1847 meeting, he became the president of the team, and was re-elected in 1848 and 1849. He was the leader of a “Committee to Revive the Constitution and By-Laws” of baseball in 1848.

Continue reading →

If Only, …

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

An article on the “Origin of Base Ball” appeared on May 4, 1905, in the Long Beach Evening Tribune. The right questions were being asked back then; however, it wasn’t as easy to find the answers. Had the information available today been accessible, Doc Adams would probably already be in the Hall of Fame. It’s not too late. Hopefully this will be rectified with Doc Adams’ election at the 2024 Winter Meetings and induction as a member of the Class of 2025. Read the full article here.

Continue reading →

Jay Jaffe Weighs In On Era Committee Restructuring

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In April of 2022, Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs wrote an article on the latest restructuring of the Era Committees by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jaffe’s article, “The Hall of Fame Shakes Up its Era Committee System Yet Again” discusses the history of the Committee rules over time, the latest changes, and an analysis of those changes and their implications. In a post since the changes were announced, we expressed concern that Doc Adams’ road to the Hall of Fame became more challenging. It seemed pretty obvious, and not only to us. Josh Rawich confirmed our thoughts on making … Continue reading →

John Thorn Mentions Doc At ‘The Fred’

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In a post in his blog, Our Game (April 26, 2021), John Thorn detailed the talk he gave at SABR’s 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference. In ‘How We Got Here: 19th century baseball and why it matters‘, Thorn made a couple of mentions of Doc Adams: I have had a hand in much of this … except for the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legends, in which I vote but otherwise do not pop my head above the trench line. My MLB role militates against open advocacy though of course I hold briefs for Doc Adams, Jim … Continue reading →

Knickerbocker BBC Adopts 1st Uniform

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

The fifth annual meeting was held at Abell’s, 474 Broadway, on the 7th of April, 1849. The officers elected for the year, were : D. L. Adams, President ; Ed. W. Talman, Vice-President; Eugene Plunkett, Secretary; F. C. Niebuhr, Treasurer. Directors—E. E. Dupignac, A. H. Drummond, B. C. Lee. At a meeting held April 24, 1849, a uniform was adopted for the club, viz. blue woolen pantaloons, white flannel shirt, chip (straw) hats ; and it may here be mentioned that the blue and white has ever since remained the costume of the club. The straw hats were abolished some … Continue reading →

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

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

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.” “Back on the Auction Block, a 19th-Century Document Essential to Baseball’s Rules”, Richard Sandomir, The New York Times (February 28, 2016) This compelling … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Eligible For Class of 2025!

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

On April 22, 2022, The National Baseball Hall of Fame again announced a restructuring of their Era committees. Per the Hall’s announcement: Highlighting these changes is a consolidation of eras into two timeframes – the Contemporary Baseball Era, consisting of the period from 1980 to present day, and the Classic Baseball Era, consisting of the period prior to 1980 and including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars. The Contemporary Baseball Era will split into two separate ballots – one ballot to consider only players who made their greatest impact on the game since 1980, and another composite ballot consisting of … Continue reading →