On March 31, 1845 Doc Adams’ father replied to a letter from his son. Below is an interesting excerpt from that letter. Thanks goodness for baseball that Doc stayed in New York. How would things have changed had he moved to Springfield? Luckily, we’ll never know.
Continue reading →SABR‘s Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter held a virtual meeting on Thursday, February 25, 2021. The topic was “Doc Adams’s Role in Early Baseball” with Corky Gaskell and Marjorie Adams. To learn more, visit SABR.
Continue reading →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 →
The Rules Committee, chaired by Dr. Daniel Adams of the Knickerbockers, had met in February to make recommendations to the convention on rule changes, and Adams reported that the committee was unanimously in favor of the fly game. A debate then ensued, with Judge Van Cott supporting the bound version and Dakin and Frank Pidgeon of the Eckfords arguing in favor of the fly game. Thirty-seven delegates voted for the fly game while 55 voted against it. For another year, at least as far as the official rules were concerned, the bound game would be the game of National Association … Continue reading →
Daniel Lucius Adams obtained n M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1838, Following his time in college, he joined his father’s medical practice. The pair worked in Mont Vernon, before the younger Adams relocated twice, first to Boston and then to New York City. Adams also worked for the New York Dispensaries, which provided medical care to poor residents.[He offered his assistance when outbreaks of cholera affected New York City. For providing vaccinations, Adams received yearly pay of $400 for a time. His field of employment gave rise to his nickname of “Doc”, which was given as “Dock” at the … Continue reading →
Doc’s father, Daniel Adams MD (1773-1864) was born in Townsend, Massachusetts and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1797 and from the second class of Dartmouth Medical School in 1799. As well as being a practicing physician, he was a farmer, an author of widely used arithmetic and geography textbooks (the former was in use from 1801 to c.1864), a deacon of his Congregational church, choir master, a member of the New Hampshire Legislature, president of the New Hampshire Medical Society, and an early and frequent orator in support of temperance and abolition. In 1800, he married Nancy … Continue reading →
On March 8, 2021, Marjorie Adams appeared on the Baseball and BBQ podcast to discuss her great-grandfather and baseball pioneer, Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams, MD, with Leonard Aberman, Jeff Cohen, and special guest Jeff ‘Pinetar’ Kornhaas. The podcast can be heard here: Baseball and BBQ Episode #87: Marjorie Adams, Baseball Royalty, Steve Ray from Owls Nest BBQ and Gary Looney from Angels Spring Training Camp. The group discusses Doc Adams’ life, his contributions to the game of baseball, and the hopes of having him inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. It is a very engaging and … Continue reading →
Dona Herweck Rice identifies Doc Adams role in a rules timeline, in er book “Batter Up! History of Baseball”.
Continue reading →The petition to show support for Doc Adams National Baseball Hall of Fame induction recently reached 1,351. It’s interesting to look at the distribution of the locations of the supporters. A great number of the supporters are from New York and Connecticut, however, there are several other states that are showing solid support including Doc’s birth state of New Hampshire and New Jersey, the home of Elysian Fields. Forty-seven sates and the District of Columbia are represented. The only missing states are Alaska, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Kudos and thanks to ALL supporters. What is intriguing is that support … Continue reading →
On March 10, 1858 the 2nd Base Ball convention was held in New York. The chairman named the following committees: On Rules: D.L. Adams, C. Place, Jr., T.G. Voorhis, G. Van Cott, T.F. Jackson, W.A. Sears, Francis Pidgeon, W. Cauldwell, A.B. Taylor. “Baseball’s 19th Century ‘Winter’ Meetings, 1857-1900, SABR, 2018 Baseball Memory Lab
Continue reading →