The Fly Game: Knickerbockers Vs. The Excelsiors

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In the May 29, 1859 issue of The Sunday Mercury, a weekly New York newspaper that extensively covered the expanding world of base ball playing, an untitled paragraph announced the possibility of a forthcoming game that would be strikingly different from all others played during the past few years: “We have heard it rumored — we do not know with what truth — that the Knickerbocker Club, of this city, will shortly play a match with the Excelsior Club, of Brooklyn, in which they will repudiate catching the ball upon the bound.” William Cauldwell, the editor of the newspaper, predicted … Continue reading →

Doc Musings

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“He’s the true father of baseball and you’ve never heard of him.” John Thorn, Official Historian of MLB “Well you know Doc saved baseball.” Fred Ivor Campbell, noted baseball historian and author “Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection.” Red Smith, sportswriter “I indulge the hope that the ‘spirit’ you express of being with us always, may be accompanied by the body on the old Play Grounds. Playing commences on the 21st. James Whyte Davis, baseball pioneer, Knickerbocker Base Ball Club “Resolved, that to him as much if not … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Elected Knickerbockers’ Vice-President

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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.

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The Knickerbocker Experience Tentative 2023 Schedule

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”The Knickerbocker Experience”, offers an opportunity to “experience” the game as it was originally played.  “Rules aren’t bent” or “exceptions made” to make it work.  The intent is to provide a historically accurate game of base ball by playing the game as it was played in 1858, 1864 or 1865.  The goal is to provide people with a chance to try playing it or watching it, unrestricted by “variations or customs” – just pure base ball.as it was meant to be. The Knickerbocker Experience’s had a successful inaugural season in 2022 and they are looking to follow it up with … Continue reading →

Jay Jaffe Weighs In On Era Committee Restructuring

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Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs wrote an article on the recent 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” discussses the history of the Committee rules over time, the most recent 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 just to us. Josh Rawich confirmed our thoughts on making the ballot as … Continue reading →

Knickerbocker BBC Adopts 1st Uniform

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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

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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 Adams Eligible For Class of 2025!

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On April 22, 2022, The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that they are once again restructures 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 … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Base Ball Card?

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Yes, actually there are a couple of Doc Adams baseball cards. Ars Longa is the Latin translation of a phrase from an aphorism written by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The aphorism contains the phrase: ars longa, vita brevis, which is commonly translated as “Art is long, Life is short.” After finding the Ars Longa card, we were surprised to find another card. Tri-star Obak produced a card, #62 in the “Game Changers” subset of the set their 2010 set. There is a bit of controversy about the source of the photo used on this card as was reported in … Continue reading →

A Stroll Through Time…Ballard Park

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In 2022, Doc Adams was mentioned in an 068 Magazine article. The article, “A Stroll Through Time”, by Jack Sanders is about “one of Ridgefield’s most historic pieces of land. Treasured today as a place of recreation and relaxation, Ballard Park has for centuries been a home of noteworthy people who’ve contributed to not only the town but also the nation.” Here’s more on Doc Adams’ Ridgefield residence, the Ridgefield Savings Bank, and the Ridgefield Library.

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