Infinite Inning 380: The Cubs Outfielder Who Hated Evolution
About this episode
The episode explores the life of Billy Sunday, a Cubs outfielder turned evangelist, alongside various baseball anecdotes and historical reflections.
The San Francisco Giants’ botched attempt at Pride Night prompts a look at Billy Sunday, the Cubs outfielder who had a religious awakening and became one of the most popular traveling evangelists of the early 20th century. Plus pitchers named Head, an ERA of 6.66, a no-hitter pitched with the wrong arm, and a young woman whose name baseball shouldn’t have forgotten. The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman shares his obsessions: history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?
People in this episode
Host: Steven Goldman
Topics covered
- baseball history
- religion
- evangelism
- sports culture
- pitching records
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: San Francisco Giants
More episodes of The Infinite Inning
- Infinite Inning 384: Dodgers of Dubious Abilities & Moralities
- Infinite Inning 383: When Babe Ruth's Car Turned Turtle
- Infinite Inning 382: Joe DiMaggio Weeps for Lou Gehrig
- Infinite Inning 381: Yogi Berra versus Roy Cohn
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