Billy Sunday

About

Popular baseball player who became an even more popular evangelist after his retirement.

Before Fame

Though he struck out his first dozen times at bat, and his career hitting averages were unremarkable for the age, he proved to be a great basestealer.

Trivia

He had a religious epiphany one night coming home from a bar and seeing a street-corner preacher; he became a minister himself, with a popular fire-and-birmstone style that brought him much acclaim.

Family Life

He was born in Ames, Iowa, and raised by his widowed mother with his two young siblings.

Associated With

He counted the Rockefellers among his friends, and frequently dined with President Woodrow Wilson.