Category: Baseball

“Striking Out” Satan (February 18, 1889) Chicago Tribune.

“STRIKING OUT” SATAN.

BILLY SUNDAY, THE NOTED BALL TOSSER, TURNS EVANGELIST.

The Famous Centre-Fielder Addresses a Large Crowd at Farwell Hall – He Didn’t Even Allow the “Father of Sin” to Reach First Base – Advising His Hearers to Watch Their “Error Columns” – Forty-eight Converts Made.

Centre Fielder Billy Sunday made a three-base hit at Farwell Hall last night. There is no other way of expressing the success that accompanied his first appearance in Chicago as an evangelist.

Young men who dodged the boys distributing pamphlets at the door of the hall were confronted with these words blazing in scarlet letters on the big bulletin board:

“William A. Sunday, the base-ball player.”

And about 500 of them who didn’t know much about Billy’s talents as an evangelist, but could remember him galloping to second base with his cap in his hand, went inside. They heard a rattling fifteen minutes’ talk.

Mr. Sunday, who has grown a red mustache since his marriage, appeared in a becoming black suit and looked a little shy. It was his first public appearance here as an evangelist. In private he had often tried to do quiet work among the ball players, but, after dulling his weapons on the adamantine surface of “Silver” Flint’s moral character, he gave up the task, and for several winters has been preparing for a public trial of his skill in saving souls.

His talk last night was the most successful of the year. He aimed straight at the young men in front of him, giving them the truth in plain, earnest language, and when he finished forty-eight youths raised their hands to show that they had been converted. Sunday looked as pleased as a man who has stolen third.

AT THE BAT.

His talk was from the text: “Is the Young Man Safe?”

“Is he safe?” said Mr. Sunday. “Do you think he is safe, boys – do you think he is safe? I answer no. This is a big city. It is full of temptations. No young man is safe in it without Christ. With Him there is security. Without Him – O! think of the pitfalls and iniquity that drag young men down to sin and death.”

The little ball player walked across the stage with the springing gait of an athlete, and turned suddenly on his audience: “There are a great many questions of vast importance to us as individuals and as a Nation—questions that call for men of keen intellect and for thought—such questions as the tariff and labor. Vast and important as these are, they sink to oblivion when compared to the question of your soul’s future home. Ah! my boy, that is the big question. Christ calls across a chasm of 1,800 years: ‘Son, give me thine heart.’ Today the seat of war is confined to no one nation or battlefield. It rages all over this earth, on the Hudson, on the Mississippi, on the Nile, on the Danube. It is the battle against sin. Ever since Cain slew Abel in the Garden of Eden that battle has been raging, and it will rage so long as the earth stands. What side are you on?

“Think of the thousands that fall in the battle of life, no hope, no home, no heaven. Look at it right, boys. Satan doesn’t want to get a young man who after a while may dispute with him the realm of everlasting meanness. You bet he doesn’t. It is the generous young man, the warm-hearted young man, the ardent young man, the sociable young man who is in danger, my friends. He’s the fellow that Satan behind the bat wants to catch napping. He’s the chap that the Devil in the box wants to pull on with a snake curve. Hold your base. Wait for your ball.”

“WATCH THE ERROR COLUMN.”

Sunday was in earnest. He grew eloquent. “Say to yourself, O my friends, God helping me, I will take my Bible, light for all darkness, balm for all wounds, grand, glorious, the best book you ever owned. If you haven’t got a Bible now, my lads, get one. It will show you the paths of safety and warn you of the danger of the paths of sin: ‘Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.’

“Is there a voice within you saying: ‘What did you do that for? Why did you go there? What did you mean by that?’ Is there a memory in your soul that makes you tremble—is there such a memory, fellows? God only knows all our hearts. He is familiar with the catalogues of our sins. How many hits have you made and where do you stand in the error column?”

Mr. Sunday then led the audience in singing the hymn:

Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe from corroding care,

Safe from the world’s temptation,

Sin cannot harm me there.

Forty-eight persons acknowledged the effect of Mr. Sunday’s manly and earnest talk—the best showing made at a Farwell Hall Sunday night service in a year. After the regular meeting an experience meeting was held in the rear of the hall, where Mr. Sunday led in prayer and shook hands with the converts.

“I wish Anson were here,” he said. “What an evangelist the old man would make. No, I’m glad I didn’t take the long trip. I can do more good here bringing souls to Christ. I will play in Pittsburg next summer.”

“Say, how he did line old Satan’s delivery out of the lot,” said a young man at the door. “He hit the ball on the nose every time.”

Late 1880’s baseball glove?

Many fielders in professional baseball in the mid to late 1880’s did not wear a glove. It was even seen ‘unmanly’ by some. The Billy Sunday museum home in Winona Lake has a glove on display that may have been his personal glove when he played. It looks much like the glove below. His baseball card below shows a glove similar to what is pictured here as well.

Billy used his platform as a former professional baseball player to share the gospel

The Pantagraph. Thu, Jan 02, 1908 ·Page 10

“BILLY” SUNDAY AS UMPIRE

PRESIDED AT INDOOR BASE BALL GAMES.

Large Crowd Witnessed the Ex-Base Ball Evangelist Handle the Indicator—Cheered in Decisions.

Sunday’s New Year.

11:30—Addresses children.

2:30—Preaches at tabernacle.

4:30—Umpire ball games.

7:30—Preaches again.

Several hundred people witnessed an unusual sight at the South Center street armory on the afternoon of New Year’s day. It was the playing of indoor base ball under the guidance of a man of national reputation in the diamond, but now turned preacher and evangelist. Unusual was the scene, in the first place, because indoor base ball itself is something of a novelty in this city. In years gone, there have been occasional games played, but never before was there a regularly organized league with a fixed schedule, and when there were games in the past, they were witnessed mainly by a few score of the enthusiastic fans. It is said that yesterday’s game was seen by hundreds who had never before witnessed such a contest.

And in the second place, it was unusual and unique to have a game of indoor base ball umpired by Rev. “Billy” Sunday, theevangelist who was himself once a star player on the outdoor diamond. His presence in the city to conduct a revival was taken as an opportunity for the managers of the league to secure his services to umpire this game. And the announcement of this fact drew a crowd of people who would otherwise have been probably entirely ignorant of the existence of the game or perhaps of the existence of such a sport.

Arrives From Meeting.

Rev. Mr. Sunday had been preaching over at the tabernacle, which is only a block away from the armory. The religious meeting there overlapped for some twenty minutes the time scheduled for the ball game in the armory, hence the first of the games had proceeded about half way through before the famous umpire arrived on the scene. The first part of the initial game was umpired by Frank Will, the regular league umpire.

While the enthusiasm of the spectators was running at a high K. C. T. game, a new horde of people, many of them women, at the door, caught of the announcement that the religious meeting was over and that Sunday was coming. The crowd had been standing about before him, but with the additional contingent added, all the available room for spectators was crowded.

Mr. Sunday entered the hall in company with a number of local preachers, and this was probably the first time an indoor ball game had been honored by so great a company of spectators. Mr. Sunday lost no time after entering the room in getting to his position behind the bat.

Umpire Will giving way gracefully. Presides in Two Games. A cheer arose from the crowd, and the magnificence lifted their din as the people recognized the preacher-umpire on the home plate. Mr. Sunday doffed his overcoat and was found clad in a business suit of light gray. He had been heated up pretty well in speaking at the revival, and the air of the armory seemed cool to him. He at once turned up his coat collar to protect his throat.

After a few minutes, some one handed the new umpire a base ball hat, and he donned this, wearing it throughout the rest of the game.

With the indicator in his hand, Umpire Sunday shouted out at regular intervals the familiar words often heard on the diamond in announcing strikes and, two balls, one ball, foul strike, or batter out.

Nearly every time the umpire would announce a decision, the crowd would cheer at the beginning of his work, but after so much attention was paid to him, and interest returned to the game when Mr. Sunday was not engaged.

His mannerisms, his shoulder or head motion before the ball was delivered by the pitcher, and the way he himself threw the ball back to the pitcher, at Story of the Games.

The first game was won by the Turners, who defeated the Knights of Columbus by a score of 1 to 0 in an exciting and clean contest. Miller won the game for the Teutons with a two bag hit in the fifth. The Turners played a scoreless game and the K. C.’s had but two misplays charged against them. The games went five innings by agreement, as did the second game. The score by innings:

R. H. E.

Turners 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 2 0

K. C.’s 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 2

Batteries: Turners, Richanne and Miller; K. C.’s, Reardon and Day. Umpires, Wise, Sunday and Zier.

Olympics Win Second Game.

A batting rally in the final inning won the second game for the team representing the Olympic Athletic Club. The Olympics were shut out until the fifth, when the opposing team, that from Company D, had scored three runs. Then the Olympics came up to the Adams slants and the game was finally entered as a victory. The score by innings:

R. H. E.

Olympics 0 0 0 0 4 – 4 5 2

Company D 0 0 0 3 0 – 3 4 2

Batteries: Olympics, Muhl and Noonan; Company D, Adams and Keenan. Umpires, Wise, Sunday and Zier.

A few less than five hundred—486 to be exact—saw yesterday afternoon’s games. In both cases the spectators saw pretty battles.

Billy Sunday