Are You Experienced?

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The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club has been recreated with the advent of The Knickerbocker Experience. They debuted at the Gettysburg National 19th Century Base Ball Festival in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 2022. With the club’s special attention to historical accuracy, the debut was both fun and meaningful for ballists and cranks alike. A total of 32 clubs battled in a single elimination tournament. Once a team was eliminated from the tournament, they continued to face other clubs in festival play. The Flat Rock Bear Clan BBC of Michigan emerged victorious, defeating the Rising Sun BBC of Maryland 23-11 for the championship. … Continue reading →

In Memory Of Nancy Adams Downey

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It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Nancy Adams Downey, great-granddaughter of Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams. She was the sister of the late Marjorie Adams, whom she helped conduct a mission to raise awareness of her great-grandfather’s contributions to the early development of our National Pastime. This, with the hope of seeing him recognized with a plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2021, Nancy was preceded in death by her younger sister Marjorie Adams, who spent years educating the world about their great-grand- father, Daniel “Doc” Adams, M.D., who wrote the Laws of … Continue reading →

Baseball Americana At The Library Of Congress

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In 2018, The Library of Congress hosted the Baseball Americana exhibition.  The ‘Laws of  Base Ball” authored by Doc Adams was the centerpiece of this major, year-long exhibition. The exhibition explored baseball’s past and present and how the game forged a sense of community for players and fans across the country. “The founding documents of baseball that would shape the modern game as our national pastime were ironed out in January and February 1857 at a convention called by the Knickerbockers Base Ball Club in New York City. Corrections were made by hand as the details were negotiated by New … Continue reading →

The Baseball “Patronym” Defined

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Baseball Almanac, the “official baseball history site”, has added a “Definition of Father Of Baseball” from the Dickson Baseball Dictionary. The Dictionary has been “hailed as ‘a staggering piece of scholarship’ (Wall Street Journal) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” (San Diego Union-Tribune), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game.” Of the 4 definitions of the “Father of Baseball”, two are of particular interest to us. 2. Patronym sometimes applied to baseball missionary Alexander Joy Cartwright (1820-1892), a bank teller and bookseller, who helped organize the Knickerbocker Base Ball … Continue reading →

Mark Your Calendar: Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival

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The 28th installment of the Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival will take place on August 2-3, at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. In 2015, this longest running annual vintage base ball festival of its kind was renamed in honor of Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams. The festival is a must for baseball fans, history buffs, and anyone looking for a a day of outdoor fun. Mark your calendar! Plan on coming down and step back in time and watch how base ball was played in its infancy. Even if you’re not in the immediate area, it’s worth the trip. Don’t … Continue reading →

Ridgefield Road Trip

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In 1865, Doc and Cornelia moved to a home in Ridgefield, CT on Main Street (demolished in the 1950s to make way for Ballard Park). Between 1866 and 1874, Cornelia and Doc had four children: two boys and two girls. “For the higher altitude, … for my mother’s health”. Roger Cook Adams (Doc’s son) on why his family moved to Ridgefield While no longer practicing medicine, Doc became active in his new community. In 1870, he was elected to the State House of Representatives and was also the first treasurer of the Ridgefield Library in 1871. In the same year, … Continue reading →

This Day in History… July 12

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Found this on the Jamaica Observer website. 1892: Despite Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams, president of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club, authoring documents titled the Laws of Base Ball in 1857 which established the essentials of the modern game, Alexander Cartwright is credited as the American inventor of modern baseball in 1860. Cartwright dies of natural causes at age 72 on this day. “This Day In History – July 12”, Jamaica Observer So, Cartwright invented modern baseball in 1860… Cartwright soon disappeared from baseball circles. He left New York and the Knickerbockers for California in the gold rush of … Continue reading →

Doc Adams And Achieving Excellence

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Almost 200 years ago, today (July 9, 1827), Daniel Adams, M.D. wrote a letter to his 12-year-old son, Daniel Lucius Adams, while he was attending the Kimball Union School in Meriden, NH: “One of your greatest faults as a scholar is the want of perseverance, to struggle with little recurring difficulties; you too readily give up, before making suitable effort to overcome them. This propensity you must correct, or you can never attain to anything great or excellent. Remember what Virgil says:– ‘possunt quia posse videntur’, a motto which you will recollect I told you should be inscribed on everything … Continue reading →

In Memory Of Marjorie Adams

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since we lost Marjorie Adams, great-granddaughter of Dr. Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams and his greatest advocate. Although we miss her dearly, today, we remember happier times as we keep her dream alive. Marjorie’s tireless efforts to spread the story of her great-grandfather, Doc Adams, enlightened and inspired many baseball fans. She 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 … 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 →