Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Wednesday, November 06, 2024
the baseball evangelist. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. It wouldn't be Christmas without Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes, and they're now available in stores across Iowa and at campcarages.org/fruitcakes. Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes are generously filled with cherries, nuts, pineapple, coconut, and just the right amount of cake batter to hold it all together. Best of all, proceeds go to support Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa. For a list of stores or to order online, go to campcarages.org/fruitcakes. They say more than a million people accepted Christ as a direct result of his preaching. But early on, there was not much to suggest that William Ashley Sunday would be one of the best known evangelists of the early 1900s. He was born in Ames in 1862. He never knew his father who died during the Civil War. His mother tried to keep the family together, but ultimately, Billy Sunday spent part of his childhood in various homes for orphans of soldiers. After high school, he was a locomotive firefighter for the railroad and played baseball in Marshalltown, leading his amateur team to a state title. Marshalltown native and baseball Hall of Famer Cap Anson saw him play and arranged for Sunday to get a tryout with the Chicago National League Ball Club. He made the team, and soon proved to be the fastest runner in the whole league. In 1886, he joined a group of young people on their way to Chicago's Pacific Garden Mission. After about a half dozen meetings, he converted. In 1890, he gave up a $350 per week baseball contract to make only $1,000 a year working for the YMCA, touring the country, spreading the gospel. He was known for pounding the pulpit, moving around the room while preaching, waving his arms, and enthusiastically delivering his message. He preached for 39 years before dying of a heart attack in Chicago on November 6, 1935. He was less than two weeks away from his 73rd birthday. Iowa-born Billy Sunday, pro athlete and preacher, died on this date in 1935. And that's Iowa Almanac for November 6. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.