THE HOUSE OF DAVID

Author

Matthew Garringer
October 06, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter for people who love the greatest game on Earth.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a bizarre religious group that was incredibly good at baseball.

The House of David was hugely impactful during baseball’s barnstorming era, but without a doubt, it was a straight up cult.

In 1903, Benjamin Purnell, an Ohio farmer, established the community after he claimed to have had a dream in which a white dove landed on his shoulder and declared him the sixth son of the House of David.

He claimed this divine encounter empowered him to bring together the lost tribes of Israel in preparation for judgment day.

He recruited some disciples and set up a commune in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

They had a few main rules:

  • No smoking

  • No drinking

  • No eating meat

  • No sexual relations outside of marriage

  • Most importantly, no shaving or cutting your hair

The House of David believed the growth of one’s hair correlated to the growth of their soul.

And they had a whole lotta soul.

Obviously, these guys were absolute kooks, but they actually did a lot of great things for the game.

Purnell was an avid sports fan and encouraged the members to play baseball as a way of building spiritual character.

They built a field on the grounds in 1910, and crowds came not long after.

Teams formed and started playing each other, initially within the group, but eventually they got so good that they started taking on other opponents as well.

They couldn’t play in the major leagues because they wouldn’t shave, and that was a time when all ballplayers were clean cut.

So they started barnstorming.

Barnstorming during the off season was common practice in the early days of baseball, most players had barely livable wages (similar to minor leaguers these days), so they typically supplemented with barnstorming tours.

Basically, they would put together teams and stage games in cities that didn’t regularly have professional baseball available.

The games were also integrated, so the best players from all the leagues were playing against each other.

Dizzy Dean, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and many more all participated in barnstorming tours during their careers.

By 1920, the House of David baseball team was traveling the country playing ball, raising money for the colony, and preaching to locals.

They had sold out crowds almost everywhere they went and during the games they passed out religious literature in the stands.

The House of David played about 200 ball games a year, and some estimates say their average winning percentage was around .700 - so about 140 W’s a year.

They’d usually play 2-3 games per day, and in between they would play a game they invented called pepper.

I’m assuming almost everyone who reads this has played pepper at least once in their life - now you know who to thank!

By the way, they’re also credited with creating “night baseball” aka playing under the light after dark.

During the 20s and 30s, they barnstormed with the Kansas City Monarchs - one of the greatest Negro League teams of all time.

The House of David team made sure that wherever they went, the Monarch players were also allowed - that meant hotels, restaurants, etc. - even when it went against local laws.

Big time Major Leaguers also joined the team.

One of the most famous players to don the House of David uniform was Grover Cleveland Alexander, one of the first ten ballplayers to get inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Even Satchel Paige threw a few games for the squad.

Babe Ruth was offered a contract to play for the team towards the end of his career, and at the time he actually wanted to accept it.

He even put on a fake beard to fit in.

Unfortunately, the Bambino had too many vices, and his manager at the time told the House of David that it probably wasn’t a good fit based on their squeaky clean reputation.

Despite all of their success over the years, things eventually fell apart.

In 1927, their founder (and messiah), Benjamin Purnell, was convicted of fraud, and died just a few weeks later.

His passing created a divide within the colony and the House of David ended up splitting into multiple teams.

Eventually that caused both teams to fade out, and the integration of MLB had a major impact on barnstorming as well.

The House of David played their last game in 1955.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Find the answer at the bottom of this email!

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Certified serial killer vibes right here.

Schmit only played 56 games in the bigs, but baseball was in his veins.

He was one of the first players to keep notes on the opposing team and use them throughout the course of the game.

Crazy played around the country for many years and one sportswriter in 1908 exaggerated that he had played on "nearly every professional field in the country."

In the 1940 census, at age 74, he still listed his profession as “baseball player.”

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

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