and died on January 3, 1899, at the age of 84. He was buried at New Haven's Evergreen Cemetery. Legacy For decades after Adams' death, his role in codifying baseball's early rules was largely unremembered. Thorn included Adams among a group of "powerfully influential figures" from the period—also including Louis F. Wadsworth and Wheaton—who he writes "went unrecognized in their lifetimes and became mysteries to future generations." Alexander Cartwright was more widely recognized as a pioneering figure for the sport. The Baseball Hall of Fame has claimed that Cartwright was the inventor of 90-foot (27 m) baselines and the nine-inning game. However, by the time conventions led by Adams had enacted those rules in the late 1850s, Cartwright had traveled to California and was no longer a member of the Knickerbockers. Adams is said to have avoided "campaigning for credit" for rules changes after he left the Knickerbockers; researcher Gary O'Maxfield said of him that he "didn't like to brag." Several of the rules approved at the conventions survived to modern baseball, including the 90-foot (27 m) baseline distance. The 45-foot (14 m) distance from home plate to the pitching mound, however, did not last through the 19th century; it was pushed back in 1880. The shortstop position, which for Adams was located between the infielders and outfielders, was later played in the infield, between second and third base. Dickey Pearce was the first player to field in that area, and his ability to prevent base hits in the formerly unoccupied territory convinced other teams to employ similar tactics. The Hartford Courant points to 1980 as a year when Adams started to gain greater attention for his achievements. A share of the New York Mets was purchased by a publishing company led by Nelson Doubleday Jr. that year, and claims that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839, which are considered flawed by modern researchers, were reported by the media. After the Doubleday reports in 1980, The New York Times received a letter from the great-great-grandson of Adams that the Courant said attempted "to try to set the record straight." The newspaper ran the letter in its April 13 issue, and added a 1939 piece by Roger Adams. In 1993, Thorn published research on Adams' contributions in the encyclopedia Total Baseball. The New York Times'' published an article on Adams on September 23, 2015. Mont Vernon holds an annual baseball game