51 Facts About Doc Adams

Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams was an American baseball player and executive who is regarded by historians as an important figure in the sport's early years.

Doc Adams first played for the New York Base Ball Club in 1840 and started his Knickerbockers career five years later, continuing to play for the club into his forties and to take part in inter-squad practice games and matches against opposing teams.

Doc Adams resigned from his positions with the Knickerbockers and NABBP in 1862.

The elder Daniel Doc Adams was a physician and author; he wrote a math textbook that was widely used in the United States in the early- to mid-1800s.

Doc Adams studied at Amherst College for two years, then transferred to Yale University, where he acquired a bachelor's degree upon his graduation in 1835.

Doc Adams continued his studies at Harvard Medical School through 1838, obtaining an MD.

Doc Adams worked for the New York Dispensaries, which provided medical care to poor residents.

Doc Adams offered his assistance when outbreaks of cholera affected New York City.

For providing vaccinations, Doc Adams received yearly pay of $400 for a time.

Doc Adams played an early form of the game, but Thorn writes that he "understood [it] to be baseball, no matter what it was called".

Doc Adams received an invitation to become a member of the Knickerbockers a month or so after the team's September 23,1845, creation.

Doc Adams accepted and joined the club along with other men in the medical field; he later said that players from the New York Base Ball Club were behind the formation of the Knickerbockers.

The club organized its first game against outside opposition in 1846; at a June 5 meeting Doc Adams was selected to a three-man committee whose aim was to set up a game against the New York Base Ball Club.

Doc Adams was only occasionally successful, and when few Knickerbockers came, they played variants of baseball that required fewer players than regular games.

In 1853, Doc Adams played in two games against the Gotham Ball Club, tallying seven runs in a pair of victories.

Doc Adams took part in two other 1855 games against Eagle and Gotham, respectively, scoring five runs total as the Knickerbockers won both contests.

Doc Adams competed four times for the club against outside opponents in 1856 as it won once, lost twice, and had one tie; he scored ten times, and records for two games showed that his defensive position was shortstop.

Doc Adams hit left-handed; he said that his batted balls occasionally went into a river by the Elysian Fields, the ground in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the Knickerbockers practiced and played.

Doc Adams had a long on-field career with the Knickerbockers; he remained a player with the team until 1859.

Doc Adams did not limit his play to shortstop; he fielded at every position except pitcher.

Thorn speculates that Doc Adams may have been "the best player of the 1840s", citing his lengthy playing career as evidence.

Doc Adams personally manufactured baseballs for a period of time, supplying many New York City-based clubs.

Doc Adams found that when the ball was more tightly stitched, it traveled further when batted or thrown.

In later years Doc Adams gathered rubber from old galoshes for the insides of baseballs.

Doc Adams played a role in producing baseball bats, choosing which wood to use and overseeing the manufacturing process.

At the club's second election, held on May 5,1846, Doc Adams was named the Knickerbockers' vice president.

Doc Adams was the leader of a "Committee to Revive the Constitution and By-Laws" of baseball in 1848.

Doc Adams was not chosen as an officer in 1851, but the next year was named one of the club's three treasurers; he was elected to the same position the following two years.

Doc Adams was one of the three Knickerbockers members selected to be on the committee, and the clubs agreed on a set of rules, which were presented at the Knickerbockers' meeting on April 1,1854.

Doc Adams remained the team's president in 1857, and after not being named as an officer the next three years, was elected president in 1861.

Duncan F Curry and William F Ladd were chosen as the committee members, but Ladd withdrew and Adams was named as a substitute.

Doc Adams favored nine-inning games, while Curry wanted contests to last seven innings.

Doc Adams held the chairmanship of the association's rules and regulations committee, and drafted the new organization's initial set of rules.

Doc Adams ruled on the distance between home plate and the pitcher's position as well, making them 45 feet apart.

Doc Adams campaigned for a further change in the rules of baseball, involving when outs were recorded.

Doc Adams supported a ban on such outs, calling his preferred rule "the fly-game".

Doc Adams did so because he was reluctant to oppose the rules of the NABBP.

In future years, the club remained an advocate of eliminating the bound rule, but Doc Adams' continued efforts were rejected.

The bound rule started losing support by 1863, after Doc Adams left the Knickerbockers, and outs on bounced balls were outlawed in 1864.

Doc Adams remained with the Knickerbockers in an executive role until March 26,1862, when he retired having served 12 years overall in various non-playing capacities.

Doc Adams received a scroll from the Knickerbockers, which referred to him as "The Nestor of Ball Players", alluding to a mythical king known for offering advice.

Doc Adams resigned from his role as rules committee chairman of the NABBP.

Doc Adams continued to maintain his medical practice during his baseball career, but was forced to abandon it in 1865 after he began suffering health issues.

Doc Adams served as a Republican legislator in the Connecticut House of Representatives for the town in 1870.

Doc Adams contributed to the creation of the Ridgefield Land Improvement Association, and to a committee overseeing construction of a town house.

Doc Adams played in an exhibition as late as 1875, and stories exist that he played recreationally into the following decade.

However, by the time conventions led by Doc Adams had enacted those rules in the late 1850s, Cartwright had traveled to California and was no longer a member of the Knickerbockers.

The shortstop position, which for Doc Adams was located between the infielders and outfielders, was later played in the infield, between second and third base.

The Hartford Courant points to 1980 as a year when Doc Adams started to gain greater attention for his achievements.

Doc Adams was the glue that held things together in the early part of baseball.

That year, the 1857 "Laws of Base Ball" authored by Doc Adams were sold at an auction.