Sports Stuff

Beards, Baseball, and the Garden of Eden

Anybody who has met a White Sox fan understands that baseball can be cultish. The matching uniforms, thousand-yard stares, and prophesying of great things that never come to pass are all things that are as at home in Jonestown as Guaranteed Rate Field. But would you be surprised to learn that in 1913, a baseball team comprised of and sponsored by a cult took the amateur sports world by storm?

In 1903, Benjamin and Mary Purnell settled in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Benjamin, who considered himself and his wife messengers of God, had declared that the world would end and Benton Harbor would be the site of the next Garden of Eden. Thus, the House of David was formed on shared religious beliefs and featured tenets such as the prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, sex, the consumption of meat, and shaving. The Purnells endeavored to fund their commune via several industrious pursuits such as creating an agricultural empire, a popular amusement park, and, in 1913, founding a baseball team. The team, distinguished by their long hair and beards, rose to prominence during baseball's barnstorming era.

Barnstorming saw teams travel circuits nationwide, often to small towns, playing exhibition games. The House of David was pretty damn good at it too, boasting a 70% win percentage against a variety of semiprofessional and professional teams. The competition also included Negro League teams making the House of David one of the first teams to play integrated baseball at a time when Major League baseball was still segregated. House of David exhibition games featured unorthodox displays of gamesmanship such as juggling, making baseballs disappear and reappear out of their beards, and players fielding while riding donkeys (eat your heart out Savannah Bananas) that all culminated in players trying to convert spectators. By the late 1920's several House of David teams existed but were only loosely associated with the cult by name. The teams, once comprised of amateur cultists, featured professional players who were paid to play. The likes of Grover Cleveland Alexander, Satchel Paige, and Mordecai Brown were just some notable names to don House of David uniforms. Even the Sultan of Swat himself was allegedly offered a spot on a House of David roster. By the mid 1950’s baseball’s infatuation with the House of David largely faded, signaling the final out for this storied franchise. While crowds no longer line up to cheer on baseball's darling cultists, the House of David remains an important albeit bizarre part of baseball's legacy.