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 Passed Away 123 Years Ago

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January 3, 1899, Doc Adams passed away at the age of 85 at his home in New Haven, Connecticut. In his years playing base ball (1845-1862) in New York City with the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club), he created and developed the shortstop position (1849/50), made all the balls and supervised the manufacture of all the bats. In 1857, in his ‘Laws of Base Ball’, he set the bases at 90 feet, and proposed nine innings/nine players per side and more. You can find more of Doc’s obituaries here. The New York Clipper according to its masthead, was “The Oldest American … Continue reading →

2021 Year-end Wrap Up

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As 2021 comes to a close, its time to take a quick look back. The COVID-19 pandemic continued although, at times, we started to see light at the end of the tunnel. Sadly, we lost Marjorie Adams, Doc Adams’ great-granddaughter and his greatest champion. After a twice delayed, 5-year wait, Doc Adams was eligible once again for a Hall of Fame ballot. However, after falling just 2 votes short in his first appearance on the 2016 ballot and the subsequent rediscovery of Doc’s handwritten “Laws of Base Ball“, he failed to appear on the 2022 ballot. On a positive note, … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Base Ball Is Now On Twitter

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Well, as everyone knows, Doc Adams was not elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year and inexplicably, he wasn’t even named to the Early Baseball Era ballot. So, there is clearly still a lot of work left to do. As promised, the campaign continues as we look for additional opportunities to spread the word about Doc Adams’ contributions and role in the early development and survival of our National Pastime. In that vein, we have established a Twitter account (@DocAdamsBB) that will serve as another forum to communicate our posts (email subscriptions, Facebook, and now Twitter). We … Continue reading →

“To Me, That’s A Bad Election”

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Here are thoughts on the Early Baseball Era Committee. Similar thoughts apply to the Early Baseball Historical Committee that generated the ballot of 10 candidates. The 16-member Early Baseball Era committed elected two former Negro League players into the Hall of Fame last Sunday, and while Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil are certainly worthy of the honor, five other candidates were left on the outside looking in. One of the 42 for 21 committee members that Jay Jaffe spoke to in Friday’s episode of FanGraphs Audio offered a blunt appraisal of the process when addressing SABR’s Southwest Michigan chapter on Saturday morning. Gary Gillette … Continue reading →

Remembering Marjorie Adams On Her Birthday

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Today would have been Marjorie Adams’ 73rd birthday. Marjorie’s tireless efforts to spread the story of her great-grandfather, Doc Adams, enlightened and inspired many baseball fans. Marjorie conducted a campaign to educate people on Doc’s role as a pioneer of our National Pastime and his importance to baseball’s survival and growth during its nascent period. Her goal was to see him recognized with long overdue enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She made many ‘baseball’ friends, particularly in the vintage base ball community. She is greatly missed. When talking about Doc, Marjorie often said that “she has all … Continue reading →

Doc Adams Appearance On 2016 Hall Of Fame Ballot, Falls Only 2 Votes Short

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Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams, MD appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot for the first, and as of now, ONLY time, on the 2016 Per-integration Era ballot. 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 … Continue reading →

The Case Has Been Made… But The Verdict, Pre-determined

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This post was planned to be a capstone in advance of the announcement of the 2022 Early Baseball Era Committee results. However, since Doc Adams was inexplicably omitted from the ballot, it is instead a sad commentary on the Hall of Fame ballot generation process. At some point in the future I may express my thoughts on that subject, but for now, I’d like to maintain the original planned focus of this post. My wife, Cathy, and I have enjoyed being a part of the decade long Dr. Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams education campaign and would like to take share … Continue reading →

Early Baseball Era Committee Members

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No words… none at all. The 16-member Hall of Fame Board-appointed electorate charged with the review of the Early Baseball Era features Hall of Fame members Bert Blyleven, Fergie Jenkins, John Schuerholz, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre; major league executives Bill DeWitt, Ken Kendrick and Tony Reagins; and veteran media members/historians Gary Ashwill, Adrian Burgos Jr., Leslie Heaphy, Jim Henneman, Justice Hill, Steve Hirdt, Rick Hummel and John Thorn. “Golden Days Era Committee, Early Baseball Era Committee Ballots To Be Considered Dec. 5 “, BaseballHall.org

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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: First Doc Adams Birthplace Classic Vintage Base Ball … Continue reading →