Editing Billy Sunday (section)

{{Short description|American evangelist and baseball player (1862–1935)}}
{{about||the Rod Jones novel|Billy Sunday (novel)|the fictional character|Men of Honor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
|name        = Billy Sunday
|image       = Billy Sunday 1921.jpg
|caption     = Billy Sunday (1921)
|birth_name  = William Ashley Sunday
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1862|11|19}}
|birth_place = [[Ames, Iowa]], U.S.
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|1935|11|6|1862|11|19}}
|death_place= [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
|resting_place = [[Forest Home Cemetery (Chicago)|Forest Home Cemetery]], [[Forest Park, Illinois]]
|occupation  = Baseball player<br>Christian evangelist
|spouse      = [[Helen Thompson Sunday]]
|children = 4
|module=
{{Infobox baseball biography|embed=yes
|position=[[Outfielder]]
|image=BillySunday.jpg
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 22
|debutyear=1883
|debutteam=Chicago White Stockings
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=October 4
|finalyear=1890
|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.248
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=12
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=170
|stat4label=[[Stolen base]]s
|stat4value=246
|teams=
* [[Chicago White Stockings (1870–89)|Chicago White Stockings]] ({{Baseball year|1883}}–{{Baseball year|1887}})
* [[Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] ({{Baseball year|1888}}–{{Baseball year|1890}})
* [[Philadelphia Phillies]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
|highlights=
* National League pennant (1885, 1886)
}}
}}

'''William Ashley Sunday''' (November 19, 1862<ref>{{Baseballstats|br=s/sundabi01|nobullet=1}}</ref> – November 6, 1935) was an American [[evangelism|evangelist]] and professional baseball [[outfielder]]. He played for eight seasons in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] before becoming the most influential American preacher during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Born into poverty near [[Ames, Iowa]], Sunday spent some years at the [[Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home]] before working at odd jobs and playing for local running and baseball teams. His speed and agility provided him the opportunity to play baseball in the [[Major League Baseball|major leagues]] for eight years.

Converting to [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] [[Christianity]] in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry. During the early 20th century, he became the nation's most famous evangelist with his colloquial [[sermon]]s and frenetic delivery. Sunday held widely reported campaigns in America's largest cities, and he attracted the largest crowds of any evangelist before the advent of electronic sound systems. Sunday was a strong supporter of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], and his preaching likely played a significant role in the adoption of the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]] in 1919. Though his audiences grew smaller during the 1920s, Sunday continued to preach and promote conservative Christianity until his death.