Rare Billy Sunday Single Signed 1925 American League Baseball Evangelist JSA COA

Presented is an official American League baseball (Ban Johnson) signed by Major League outfielder-turned-preacher Billy Sunday, who has scripted his name “W. A. Sunday” in black fountain pen across the sweet spot. Billy Sunday single-signed balls are exceedingly rare. In fact, this is the only one we have ever seen. Sunday, who became a world-famous evangelist after his ballplaying days, is one of the great nineteenth-century baseball figures whose fame transcends the sport. Billy Sunday was a star with Anson’s Chicago Nationals in 1886 when he met a group of evangelists from the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. The evangelists invited Billy to attend services, and soon after he became famous in the baseball community for his strong faith and moral lifestyle in a sport characterized by a culture of drinking, gambling, and hard living. He soon earned the nickname “The Evangelist.” Following the 1890 season, Sunday left the game to peruse his true calling, earning less than 25 percent of the salary he could command on the baseball diamond. He became the most popular evangelist in America and a great ambassador for the game of baseball. In Very Good condition overall. Full LOA from James Spence/JSA.

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