The Vintage Base Ball community is raising awareness of baseball pioneer, Doc Adams, and his Hall of Fame case.

Clubs across the country will host mid-19th century style base ball games to raise awareness of the many contributions of baseball pioneer Daniel Lucius Adams, MD (aka “Doc”) to our National Pastime during its nascent period.

The events, dubbed “A Pitch for Doc Adams”, are one of several types being planned throughout the year by vintage base ball teams across the U.S. Each event seeks to draw attention to Doc Adams – a long-overlooked and forgotten baseball legend – who played a pioneering role in the foundation of modern baseball and is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2025 Classic Baseball Era ballot.

John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball and author of “Baseball in the Garden of Eden” (Simon and Schuster, 2012) underscored Adams’ importance, “He is baseball’s most important figure NOT in the Hall of Fame. More than anyone he developed nine players, nine innings and ninety-foot basepaths.”

Born in Mont Vernon, NH in 1814, Doc graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1838 and while practicing medicine in New York City played baseball, eventually becoming a founding member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club (K.B.B.C.) in 1845. Doc oversaw the manufacturing of bats and made many of the balls by hand (which were not readily available back then) and organized regular matches with other Clubs at the storied Elysian Fields in Hoboken, NJ where it has been said that the first modern match of baseball was held in 1846. In 1849, Doc invented and played the position of shortstop as the balls were often too light to make a throw from the outfield without a middle person to relay the ball. Eventually, the position moved forward to fill in the infield. In 1857, while presiding over the Rules Committee for the convention of New York and Brooklyn clubs, he is credited with having set the bases at 90-feet apart, advocated strongly for nine-inning games and nine players per side. He also was in favor of the “fly game,” where balls in fair territory must be caught in the air. Prior to this rule change in 1865, balls could be caught on one bound for an out.

A Pitch For Doc Adams

The Society of American Baseball Research voted him their 2014 “19th Century Overlooked Baseball Legend” and in 2015, Doc finally appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot, falling just 2 votes short of election.

Only a few months later, his handwritten “1857 Laws of Base Ball” were discovered and sold at auction for $3.26 million – still a record for any baseball related document.

He has yet to appear again on any ballot since then. With the 2021 passing of his great-granddaughter Marjorie Adams who had been a juggernaut of enthusiasm and support for raising awareness of her ancestor’s contributions to baseball (see New York Times – July 20, 2021), members of the vintage base ball community are throwing the full weight of their support toward seeing that Doc will get back on the ballot and into the Hall of Fame.

As we are made aware of events, they will be added to our CALENDAR.

Two events are scheduled for this weekend (Saturday, July 13):

• A Pitch For Doc Adams: Westfield Wheelmen Base Ball Club will host Connecticut BBC of Hartford
• A Pitch For Doc Adams: Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club