Editing Billy Sunday (section)

==Conversion==
On a Sunday afternoon in Chicago, during either the 1886 or 1887 baseball season, Sunday and several of his teammates were out on the town on their day off. At one street corner, they stopped to listen to a gospel preaching team from the [[Pacific Garden Mission]]. Attracted by the hymns he had heard his mother sing, Sunday began attending services at the mission. After talking with a former society matron who worked there, Sunday{{spnd}}after some struggle on his part{{spnd}}decided to become a [[Christians|Christian]]. He began attending the fashionable Jefferson Park [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] Church, a congregation close to both the ball park and his rented room.<ref>Knickerbocker, 80–89; Dorsett, 24–28. Sunday could never remember the date of this experience, although he made repeated reference to it. The oft-told conversion story poses a number of chronological difficulties. The best explication of the problems and their partial solutions is Knickerbocker, 59–63, 79–89.</ref>

Although he socialized with his teammates and sometimes gambled, Sunday was never a heavy drinker. In his autobiography, he said, "I was never drunk but four times in my life. ... I used to go to the saloons with the baseball players, and while they would drink highballs and [[Fizz (cocktail)|gin fizzes]] and beer, I would take lemonade."<ref>Billy Sunday, ''The Sawdust Trail'', 67.</ref>  Following his [[religious conversion|conversion]], Sunday denounced drinking, swearing, and gambling, and he changed his behavior, which was recognized by both teammates and fans. Shortly thereafter, Sunday began speaking in churches and at [[YMCA]]s.<ref>Dorsett, 29; Knickerbocker, 61–62.</ref>