Tag Archives: John Thorn

Baseball In The Garden Of Eden Flashback

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Back in 2016, The Sporting News celebrated the start of the baseball season by listing the best books ever written about the National Pastime. In “The 25 best baseball books of all time, ranked“, “Baseball in the Garden of Eden” by John Thorn was listed in the Top 10, crediting it with almost getting Doc Adams inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2016. The vote of the Pre-integration Era Committee came up just 2 votes short of the number required for Doc’s election. If you are interested in the early history of baseball “Baseball in the Garden of … Continue reading →

The Official Historian Of MLB On Doc Adams

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

“He’s the true father of baseball and you’ve never heard of him.” John Thorn, Official Historian of Major League Baseball. Thanks to John Thorn’s rediscovery of Doc Adams, his research, writing, and the unearthing and sale of Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball”, more people today are aware of Doc Adams and his role in early baseball. When Doc Adams set to work in late 1856, none of these aspects of the game were settled,” said Thorn. “This was some seven years after Cartwright had left New York for Hawaii, never to return. For his role in making baseball the … Continue reading →

John Thorn’s Five Inventors

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

John Thorn, Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball, asks the questions “Who Is Baseball’s Edison? Its Leonardo?” in his Our Game post “5 Inventors”. We are particularly interested in his thoughts on Doc Adams. As usual, an excellent read – take the time to read the whole article.

Continue reading →

John Thorn Mentions Doc At ‘The Fred’

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In a post in his blog, Our Game (April 26, 2021), John Thorn detailed the talk he gave at SABR’s 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference. In ‘How We Got Here: 19th century baseball and why it matters‘, Thorn made a couple of mentions of Doc Adams: I have had a hand in much of this … except for the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legends, in which I vote but otherwise do not pop my head above the trench line. My MLB role militates against open advocacy though of course I hold briefs for Doc Adams, Jim … Continue reading →

Baseball in the Time of Cholera (John Thorn)

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

We have previously shared Dr. Daniel Lucius Adams’ (Doc Adams) contributions during the New York Cholera epidemic of 1854. In his Our Game Blog on March 22, 2020, John Thorn (the official historian for MLB) provided much more context of the mid-1800s, New York epidemics in “Baseball in the Time of Cholera“.

Continue reading →

The Official Historian Of MLB On Doc Adams

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

“He’s the true father of baseball and you’ve never heard of him.” John Thorn, Official Historian of Major League Baseball. “Who’s your Daddy? Modern baseball may have new founder“, AP Well, thanks to Thorn, for rediscovering Doc Adams. Thanks to his research and writing, other baseball historians, Marjorie Adams, Vintage Base Ball enthusiasts and the re-discovery of Doc Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball”, more people have now heard of Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams, M.D. When Doc Adams set to work in late 1856, none of these aspects of the game were settled,” said Thorn. “This was some seven years … Continue reading →

Baseball In The Garden Of Eden Flashback

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

Back in 2016, The Sporting News celebrated the start of the 2016 baseball season by listing the best books ever written about the National Pastime. In “The 25 best baseball books of all time, ranked“, “Baseball in the Garden of Eden” by John Thorn was listed in the Top 10, crediting it with almost getting Doc Adams inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2016. The vote of the Pre-integration Era Committee came up just 2 votes short of the number required for Doc’s election. The subsequent re-discovery of Doc Adams’ handwritten “Laws of Base Ball”, will hopefully provide … Continue reading →

John Thorn’s Five Inventors

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

John Thorn, Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball, asks the questions “Who Is Baseball’s Edison? Its Leonardo?” in his recent post in Our Game. We are particularly interested in his thoughts on Doc Adams. Thorn’s entire post, “5 Inventors” can be read here. As usual, an excellent read – Take the time to read the whole article.

Continue reading →

John Thorn Mentions Doc At ‘The Fred’

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

In a recent post in his blog, Our Game (April 26), John Thorn detailed the talk he gave at SABR’s 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference. In ‘How We Got Here: 19th century baseball and why it matters‘, Thorn made a couple of mentions of Doc Adams: … I have had a hand in much of this … except for the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legends, in which I vote but otherwise do not pop my head above the trench line. My MLB role militates against open advocacy though of course I hold briefs for Doc Adams, … Continue reading →

Baseball in the Time of Cholera (John Thorn)

Doc Adams Base Ball (Official) Posted on by

A couple of weeks ago, we shared some information on Dr. Daniel Lucius Adams (Doc Adams) contributions during the New York Cholera epidemic of 1854. In his Our Game Blog, John Thorn (the official historian for MLB) provided context of the mid-1800s, New York epidemics on March 22 in “Baseball in the Time of Cholera“.

Continue reading →