How an apocalyptic cult invented baseball beard power - The Boston Globe

W hen it was founded in 1903, the House of David wouldn’t have struck anyone as a future sports powerhouse. It was more of a minor apocalyptic cult. A Christian commune founded in Michigan by Benjamin Franklin Purnell, a self-proclaimed messenger of God, the sect sought to reunite the 12 tribes of Israel in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ at the onset of the new millennium. Members gave all their worldly possessions to the commune and were required to refrain from sex, alcohol, tobacco, and meat. With nearly a century left before the second coming, members were left with plenty of time to kill. By 1914, Purnell began to field a baseball team as a recreational outlet for...