Category: Billy Sunday Home Winona Lake

When did Billy Sunday play professional baseball?

Billy Sunday played professional baseball from 1883 to 1890.

Here is the basic timeline of his baseball career:

1883–1887 — Chicago White Stockings (National League)

  • Discovered by manager Cap Anson while playing for a local amateur team in Marshalltown, Iowa.
  • Joined the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) in 1883.
  • Known more for speed and defense in the outfield than for hitting.
  • Played on the 1885 and 1886 National League championship teams.

1888–1890 — Pittsburgh Alleghenys (National League)

  • Traded to Pittsburgh in 1888.
  • Continued as an outfielder and base runner.

1890 — Philadelphia Phillies (Players’ League)

  • Jumped to the short-lived Players’ League in 1890 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
  • This was his final season in professional baseball.

Career Snapshot

  • Years: 1883–1890
  • Teams:
    • Chicago White Stockings (1883–1887)
    • Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1888–1890)
    • Philadelphia Phillies – Players’ League (1890)
  • Position: Outfielder
  • Batting Average: .248
  • Games Played: 499
  • Stolen Bases: 95

After Baseball

After leaving baseball in 1890, Sunday worked briefly with the Chicago YMCA, where his speaking ability began to emerge. Within a few years he joined the evangelistic team of J. Wilbur Chapman, launching the ministry that eventually made him the most famous evangelist in America before Billy Graham.

After Baseball

Here is a photo gallery of baseball related images associated with Billy Sunday.

“Read good books,” urged Billy Sunday.

In October 1906 Billy preached to a crowd of roughly 800 people in Salida, Colorado, at First Presbyterian Church. During his message he exhorted the crowd…..

Read good books and keep good company. Every gambler and drunkard became so by imitating the gang he went with. Good books and good companions are to character what water is to the fruit trees, the grasses and the vegetables in this beautiful valley.

There are a few hundred books in the present Winona Lake home that Billy lived in for the last 30 years of his ministry. On the shelf, one can find A History of the American People, by Wodrow Wilson in the first edition (1902).

While Sunday’s authority came from Scripture, A History of the American People offered a grand, moral narrative of the United States that fit seamlessly with his revivalistic call: a chosen nation needing repentance and reform to fulfill its destiny. Wilson’s combination of national mission, moral urgency, and literary flair reinforced Sunday’s belief that evangelism and patriotism were inseparable in early-20th-century America.

Morgan Library at Grace College (Winona Lake) has several cards or notes in which Sunday and Wilson communicated together. They seemed to have liked each other.

Who came to dinner at the home of Billy Sunday in Winona Lake?

During the height of his ministry-career (1905-1920) Billy Sunday was more popular than Mark Twain or William Jennings Bryan. He even turned down an offer for $1,000,000 for a contract with “moving pictures.” He was a friend to multiple U.S. Presidents and dignitaries. One can only imagine whom he and Helen entertained in their living room below.

The Bill Sunday Home, Winona Lake.

Helen ‘Ma’ Sunday liked to paint

Several paintings by Ma Sunday (Billy’s wife) hang in their former home in Winona Lake. Many of her subjects were landscapes and animals.

Permission granted by the Winona Lake History Center.

The famous Billy Sunday hat

Billy was often photographed in this hat, which now resides on the bed in his former Winona Lake home. Permission to photograph was granted by the Winona Lake History Center.

The picture below was taken in 1915 at the Polo Grounds (colorized with AI).

Billy Sunday’s Bible and Psalm 37

Many surviving signatures of Billy Sunday accompany and simple inscription to Psalm 37.

There is a KJV Scofield Bible, dated 1909, on the bed of Billy and Ma Sunday in their home in Winona Lake. This particular Bible was gifted to Billy in 1917 on Easter Sunday, in New York.

Permission granted by the Winona Lake History Center to photograph the Bible.

Mantel clock on Billy Sunday’s fireplace

Billy and Ma Sunday displayed a beautiful Victorian clock on their mantel in their home in Winona Lake. The characters are Pizarro & Cortez. The clock was made by the Ansonia Clock Company and this model was patented in 1891. One could only conjecture why this piece inspired Billy or Ma Sunday.

Image captured upon permission from the Winona Lake History Center.