When I give baseball history presentations, I usually begin by saying that “As we all know, Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York.”  The statement is usually greeted with laughs and smiles reflecting the increasing awareness that Doubleday had nothing to do with baseball’s beginnings. But this relatively frequent reaction should not lead us to become complacent. Any such thoughts got a rude awakening when I recently learned of a sign in Mendham, New Jersey proclaiming that Doubleday, who once lived there, was baseball’s “founder.”  It’s wrong, wrong, wrong!  Not only is there no evidence, Doubleday invented baseball, to my knowledge, there’s no evidence he ever played baseball or went to a major league baseball game.  Yet the myth endures.

Why does it matter?  First of all, historical accuracy always matters. Regardless of the subject, allowing inaccuracies to go unchallenged is never a good thing.  More importantly, however, what we might call “fake history,” gets in the way of what really happened and who deserves credit. In Doubleday’s case, the baseball legend tends to block out his long and distinguished military career, especially during the Civil War. As much as we love baseball, Doubleday’s service to the Union in its hour of need is without question far more important than anything he could have done for baseball.

Similarly, the Doubleday myth obscures the accomplishments of those who helped get organized baseball started in New York City in the 1830s and 1840s. At the heart of this effort were the early baseball clubs. While they weren’t the first baseball club, a great deal of credit is due to the Knickerbocker Club of New York City.  Of special note among the KBBC leadership is Daniel “Doc” Adams, long time club president.  Adams is, according to John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball, the game’s “most important figure not yet in the Hall of Fame.”

Adams story and contributions to baseball are well told in Thorn’s essential Baseball in the Garden of Eden and also at https://docadamsbaseball.org/.  During the organized game’s early formative days, Adams “added” the shortstop’s position to what was then an eight men game. In addition, he was instrumental in making baseball a game of nine players and nine innings with 90-foot base paths.  Any one of these contributions is worthy of historical recognition, but despite his record, the good doctor is not in the Hall of Fame.

After coming close the last time, he was eligible, Adams is up for consideration again this year, under less than favorable conditions.  Under the current rules, Adams is part of the Classic Baseball Era which covers anyone active before 1980. To make the possibilities even more limited, only eight candidates, from well over a century of baseball history, will make the ballot with 12 of 16 possible votes required for election.  It’s a steep mountain to climb, but Adams’ record and the importance of historical accuracy make it worth the effort.  No one has any illusions about the difficulty of the task, but perhaps this time credit will be given where credit is long overdue!

John Zinn serves as Chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Historical Society, the state’s oldest cultural institution and only statewide historical society. He chaired the New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee founded to commemorate New Jersey’s important role in that era during the Sesquicentennial observances. John is the score keeper for the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club – one of New Jersey’s two vintage baseball teams. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). John’s Blog: A Manly Pastime – A Baseball History Blog.

This is part of our “Speaking of Doc” series.