In one week, as part of the Hall of Fame’s Memorial Day Weekend, Doc Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball” debuted in the Taking the Field exhibit. The “Laws of Base Ball” will be on long-term loan and on display in the National Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY thanks to their owner, Hayden Trubitt. The documents have been described by the Hall of Fame as follows: The r…
Continue reading →Do You Know Doc Adams? He was a more than a player, wrote the ‘Laws of Base Ball’, and his legacy lives on. Chapter 2: The ‘Laws of Base Ball’.
Continue reading →On January 14, 1899, The New York Clipper reported the passing of Dr. Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams—recognizing that he “took a prominent part in arranging the new codes of playing rules.” That wasn’t hindsight. That was written then— by those who witnessed the game’s formation in real time. Now, more than a century later, history speaks again. With the imminent debut at …
Continue reading →Do You Know Doc Adams? He was a more than a player, wrote the ‘Laws of Base Ball’, and his legacy lives on. Chapter 1: He Was More Than A Player.
Continue reading →With the ‘Rules of Base Ball’ set to debut at the Hall of Fame, attention turns to the groundbreaking “Laws of Base Ball” and the pivotal inflection point of the 1857 convention — central to Doc Adams’ Hall of Fame case…
Continue reading →The SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference was recently held on April 24-25 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY…
Continue reading →As a reminder, next month, as part of the Hall of Fame’s Memorial Day Weekend, Doc Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball” debuted in the Taking the Field exhibit. The “Laws of Base Ball” will be on long-term loan and on display in the National Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY thanks to their owner, Hayden Trubitt. The documents have been described by the Hall of Fame as follows: The rules of baseball are engrained in the American culture to a magnitude unlike those of almost any other game. But those regulations changed repeatedly as they coalesced in the national … Continue reading →
I just received the latest copy of Memories and Dreams, official magazine of the Hall of Fame. I was a bit taken aback by the article referring to the soon to be unveiled “Taking the Field” exhibit. This exhibit will include the “Laws of Base Ball” and the “Rules for Match Games of Base Ball”. The rules of baseball are engrained in the American culture to a magnitude unlike those of almost any other game. But those regulations changed repeatedly as they coalesced in the national consciousness. Beginning Memorial Day Weekend, visitors to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and … Continue reading →
BREAKING NEWS: DOC ADAMS’ GROUNDBREAKING 1857 ‘LAWS OF BASE BALL’ TO BE DISPLAYED AT THE HALL O FAME. On December 6th, 1856, the Knickerbockers formed a three-man committee headed by Daniel Lucius ‘Doc’ Adams (with William Grenelle and Louis Wadsworth) to organize a convention of the New York base ball teams to standardize the rules of the game. Doc Adams, along with Grenelle and Wadsworth then represented the Knickerbockers at baseball’s 1st convention where Adams was elected the presiding officer of the convention and oversaw the development of the set of rules that mark the beginning of modern baseball. Adams’ … Continue reading →
Two uniform buttons from Doc Adams’ Knickerbocker Base Ball Club (ca. 1855). These buttons currently reside in a private collection. They are likely the oldest known surviving piece of baseball uniform with provenance. These are also locked up in a bank vault. We have two buttons that belonged to Doc that are embossed with KBBC on them that they’re a little bit larger than a quarter and they’re studs. They are not regular sew-on buttons. And I showed very detailed pictures of them to Jim Gates at the Hall of Fame at the Library. He’s one of the head researchers … Continue reading →
