author
Billy Sunday
1862–1935
A former professional baseball player who became one of America’s most famous revival preachers, he brought athletic energy, slangy humor, and sharp showmanship to the pulpit. His life captures a vivid meeting point of sports, religion, and popular culture in the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Iowa in 1862, Billy Sunday grew up in poverty after his father died during the Civil War. As a young man he made his name as a fast, hard-playing outfielder in professional baseball before leaving the sport and turning toward Christian ministry.
Working first with evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman and then on his own, he became a hugely popular revivalist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His sermons were known for their plain language, theatrical delivery, and emotional force, and he drew enormous crowds in temporary tabernacles across the United States.
Sunday was especially associated with evangelical Protestantism and the temperance movement, and he became one of the best-known public religious figures of his era. He died in Chicago in 1935, but his unusual path from ballplayer to headline-making preacher still makes him a memorable figure in American history.