Knickerbockers vs. the Gotham
In their first friendly game of the 1853 season, the Knickerbockers played the Gotham. Doc Adams played with his Knickerbocker team making 2 outs and scoring 3.runs.
Continue reading →Baseball Americana at the Library of Congress
Two years ago, 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 … Continue reading →
Petition Signatures Exceed 1,250
Not too long ago, our petition to recognize Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams’s role as a founding father of our National Pastime exceeded 1,000 signatures. We have now exceeded 1,250! The recognition being sought is his enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The show of support via the petition demonstrates that we are successfully telling Doc Adams story. When this journey started, few had heard of the great doctor. “He’s the true father of baseball and you’ve never heard of him,” John Thorn (the Official Baseball Historian of MLB) told The Associated Press in a phone interview. John Thorn‘s … Continue reading →
Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival CANCELLED!
Sadly, the 23rd Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival that is held at Old Bethpage Village Restoration has been CANCELLED. The Festival has fallen victim to the Coronavirus pandemic. The longest running Vintage Base Ball festival was renamed in honor of Doc Adams in 2015. This is an important year as hopefully Doc will be elected by the Early Base Ball Era Committee in December for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. We’ll look forward to the 2021 Festival!
Continue reading →The New Biographical History of Baseball
Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella in their book, “The New Biographical History of Baseball: The Classic—Completely Revised” refer to Doc Adams as one of the “candidates for the honorific title of Father of Baseball”.
Continue reading →Doc Adams and Achieving Excellence
193 years ago today (July 9, 1827), I was 12 and at the Kimball Union School in Meriden, NH. My father wrote me: “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.”
Continue reading →Knickerbocker BBC vs. the Excelsiors
An account of a previous Knickerbocker-Excelsior game played on 8 July 1858 reported, regarding post-game activities, that “Our reporter—Mr. Chadwick—was called upon to respond to the toast of ‘The Press,’ but being somewhat diffident of his oratorical powers, he quietly retreated a moment before the call, having previously deputied the gentleman from the Tribune to respond, which duty he ably performed.” Significantly, this same account also included the observation that “The fielding of the Knickerbockers was marked by some excellent catches ‘on the fly.’ Their opponents seemed to prefer the surer, but less skillful method, of taking the ball on … Continue reading →
Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival Is On!
The 23rd Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival will take place at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on August 1-2. The longest running Vintage Base Ball festival was renamed in honor of Doc Adams in 2015. This is an important year as hopefully Doc will be elected by the Early Base Ball Era Committee in December for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Continue reading →Doc Adams’ Timeline
Let’s take the opportunity today to review a timeline of the life of Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams.
Continue reading →Jay Jaffe on Doc Adams’ Hall Chances
Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs again shows support for Doc Adams’ inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Hopefully, the committee does better homework than it did last time when Doc came up 2 votes short for election. Since the last time Doc was eligible, the discovery of his handwritten “Laws of Base Ball” was announced. This document sold at auction for $3,263,246, setting a new record for the highest priced baseball document. It was also featured in the Baseball Americana exhibit at the library of Congress. “Adams’s hand in the sport’s early rule-making is not a revelation; instead, it … Continue reading →