During Passover, a Tribute to the House of David

Barnstorming baseball teams were hugely popular in the mid-20th century. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig barnstormed in the 1920s as the Bustin’ Babes and the Larrupin’ Lous. Satchel Paige teamed up with Bob Feller and Dizzy Dean to form two separate cross-country tours in the 1930s and 1940s. Many Negro League players, not affiliated with any organized teams, scheduled their own games and traveled throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico to entertain fans in smaller cities that didn’t have MLB teams.

No barnstorming team, however, had a greater following for a longer time than the House of David, a talented nine that toured the country for almost five decades. Part Barnum and Bailey-style circus entertainers, part Harlem Globetrotters and part skilled ballplayers, the team represented a religious society co-founded by Benjamin and Mary Purnell in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Israelite House of David, established by the married couple in March 1903, was an Adventist cult that sought to reunite the twelve tribes of Israel in anticipation of Jesus’ return to Earth in the new millennium. Benjamin Purnell considered himself the seventh messenger from the Book of Revelation, and he created the 1,000-acre commune as a hub for his work.

Purnell, through his persuasive preaching, eventually recruited several hundred members that lived a communal existence on a plot that eventually exceeded 1,000 acres. In keeping with Purnell’s unbending faith, he demanded that members relinquish all their earthly possessions and forgo sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, meat, and most notably, shaving. Long hair and beards showed respect to the God of Israel, Leviticus 19:27: “You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.” Today’s hirsute MLB players look like fuzzy-chinned teens compared to the House of David’s players’ flowing locks.

Luckily for the recreationally starved males, Purnell approved of baseball which he believed taught discipline to the body, mind, and soul. Around 1910, a baseball field was built on the grounds, and soon crowds came out to watch informal games against local semi-pro teams. By 1914, an official team was created, in 1915, the HOD entered a league and began playing in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, honing their skills as they went along. The House of David was one of the first all-white teams to play against the Negro League’s best. The team played two or three games per day, riding from diamond to diamond in a bus. They began with a Florida training camp in spring, then crisscrossed the country until fall, often playing over two hundred games per season. Statisticians estimate their winning percentage reached around .700.

The players mastered baseball’s essentials: aggressive base running, masterful fielding, and dexterity with the bat. The HOD invented pepper, the now obscure warmup drill where players bunted and threw the ball crisply to each other. Fans flocked from near and far to watch the players hide baseballs in their beards. Vernon “Lefty” Deck had an unusual hidden ball trick---he could place the entire sphere in his mouth! Another attraction: Infielders spent an inning or two mounted on donkeys to chase grounders, “Donkey Ball,” the fans called it.

Not that the HOD needed big baseball names to draw the fans, but Hall of Famers Grover Cleveland Alexander, Satchel Paige, and Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown had brief stints with the team. Alexander’s role was pitcher and manager; he was allotted an additional thirty-five cents daily to remain clean shaven but spent the money on whiskey. HOD also pioneered night baseball. In 1931, using a portable light system, the HOD defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in Sportsman’s Park,17-6 before 9,000 fans. From about 1927 until the late 1950s, the HOD had a basketball team. The Globetrotters were its most frequent barnstorming opponent. And a women’s team that featured “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias, 1932 Summer Olympic two-time gold medalist and 10-time LPGA champion, went undefeated.

But, unbeknownst to most, internal trouble was brewing during the team’s heyday. By the late 1920's, the HOD’s leader Purnell was under scrutiny for fraud and the unthinkable---sexual abuse of minors. The court found Purnell guilty as charged and the colony banished him. After his December 1927 death, a power struggle for the colony ensued. The colony divided into two separate factions, and eventually fielded two separate teams, the original HOD and the other under Mary Purnell’s direction, “The City of David.” The HOD continued to sponsor barnstorming teams until the late 30's, then backed teams in weekend semi-pro leagues well into the late 40's. At one time the HOD had up to three teams barnstorming around the country. The City of David sent teams out barnstorming from 1930 to 1940, then again from 1946 to 1955.

By the mid-1950s, the barnstorming era had ended, MLB was set to expand west of the Mississippi, and television rang the death knoll for minor league franchises. But the HOD had a remarkable three-decade long run, and entertained millions of fans coast to coast with its mix of comedy and quality baseball.

Joe Guzzardi is a Society for American Baseball Research member. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com