Doc Adams – SABR’s Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend

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On July 31, 2014, Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams (1814 – 1899) was selected as the 19th Century Overlooked Baseball Legend by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). This recognition came in the bi-centennial of his birth. Each year SABR honors a 19th century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Adams joined the New York Base Ball Club in 1840. By 1845, he became a member of the famed Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and was elected as its president two years later. In 1848, he … Continue reading →

Upcoming Induction A Time to Reminisce and Look Ahead

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With the 2019 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction upon us, it causes us to reminisce and to look ahead as well. It’s a good time to re-visit Bill Francis’ great article about Doc on the Hall of Fame’s website. The article was published the 1st time Doc appeared on the ballot for the class of 2016. Had the Hall not changed their committee rules, this could have been Doc’s year. As it is now, he will have to wait for the ballot for the class of 2021. Hopefully, the 2021 Induction will see Doc being acknowledged with enshrinement into … Continue reading →

Doc Adams and Achieving Excellence

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192 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.”

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Aug 3 & 4: The 22nd Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival

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It’s that time of year again. The boys of summer return to Old Bethpage Village Restoration and the 22nd Annual Doc Adams Old Time Base Ball Festival is right around he corner. The festival has provided many great memories in recent years. 08/03/19 – Saturday 11:00am Watch as teams from the 1864 league, from across the country play base ball (as it was spelled then) following the rules and customs of the 19th century in vintage uniforms. Food, beverages & more. 08/04/19 – Sunday 11:00am Watch as teams from the 1864 league, from across the country play base ball (as … Continue reading →

First Base Ball Game At Elysian Fields

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What is often referred to as the first recorded game played under the Knickerbocker Rules (now believed to be yet another intrasquad game), took place on June 19, 1846, when the Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club (aka “the New York Nine”) 23–1 in four innings. Elysian Fields First Game

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The Bat and Ball Letter

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On June 15, 1832, Doc Adams received a letter from his 11-year old sister that has become known as the “Bat and Ball letter“. In the letter his sister Nancy sent to him at school, she said, “I have not played with your bat and ball as you bid me. I forget it every morning and indeed I have not seen it since you went away”.

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A Little Knickerbocker Base Ball Club History

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ON THIS DATE: (June 5th) IN 1846: Doc Adams was appointed to a committee with teammates, Duncan Curry and William Tucker to arrange a game with the New York Base Ball Club. That game would take place two weeks later. IN 1855: The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the Eagle Base Ball Club in Hoboken, NJ. It lasted four innings.Final score: KBBC 27 aces, Eagles 14 aces. Doc Adams made 3 runs (aces) and 3 hands (outs).

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The Fly Game

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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 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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