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Religion Prevents Players PromSeventeen Years Ago—Come From -■!- eoJony.fAi Seaton Harhar;'-Michigan—Spefiiil Oiet For The Players• tJenlpSp^ugr. = 5 HNS)—A half century ag^Vhen baseball -vva§ in its infancy, .bearded players .were the rule. Sideburns, drooping mustaches and an occasional VanDyke were .seen g it .all the . leading- feamS:Since lliat time whiskers have dls-appeared - from the bal 1 cliamond as welL-as front other scenes of endeavor.But the Hons* of David baseball team of Benton Harbor, Mich., sponsored by the. Israelite House of David,-as reorganized, by Mary’ Purnell, still cling- to the bewhiskered . traditions of j the- HO's. No tv that they • want to he I Cftpspicuous—which* they- are-—but.that their religion forbids, .the culling of hair or of ftesh..• -For 17. years a .troup. of bearded atlUct^-. representing # tlie House of David- have- been touring the country, froiji - Florida, to* Washington, meeting £.11• comers.. ...:.. Francis Tkb’rpe, - 5 6,. organize r an cl manager of the House.of DavjcL nine, and■bis ^troupe. of athletes and performers, recently'.; competed in Den-v.er .TL.ittie* World- . Series of the West, baa'ebaU cliksie’hf the West. -The religious influence of their sect not only keeps the .bail .play era ^.unshaven. and. unshorn, but also, causes them to' live cfean athletic -lives. They neither drink liquor, coffee. nor •tea, nor do. they eftt meat. .Th.e diet. Of the: House of David ath-3et.es. consists, of / vegetables eggs, mill*, butter , and ch.eebc. Tile prohibition on/beef extends .to. the diamond, '“beefing-. is strictly tabbo. In-atead;* the team is celebrated far and wide • for its ■ •*pepper gaine. ^Preceding .each, gain e they. give. 4n. exhibition oF juggling a’ baseball tbi is as enter-tai utng'. to^ fans, asthe: gam e 11sei f-. Most .of,tljevplayers on the team arb veterans; of baseball bn widely scattered: diamonds^ from coast to coast. Their average age -is 3 3 years*. • Thorpe i.e.:tdie .oldest. Gilbert/ace pitcher is 44.. . Tally, who lias been bn the. team since lt,s organization 17 years .ago,'Is 36. Bass,, the* youngest.pitcher, ’is 25.V'Our team,” Thorpe; said, “are all representatives of the religious colony, the .Israelite, Ho use. of David of Ben-tpn*.Harbor, Mich./ as reorganized ty Mary; Purnell.^Trie,. original idea, of the calciny ws, not athletic, but because we be-liC.Ved in hea.lthfuTre creation, ct*e-ajtepi colony, park; \A. local promot er waitted.;a:basebal 1. diamond/and *we built one,-In our park,. .J,‘ seyeral yeans,, the grounds. were used by a-: semi:pro' team of Benton Harbor. ,*X^en. w« Spt up. .a team, 1 organized''it. We cleaned up the hear--• 6V •ihdustrial team, and, brouglij 'm, sefhi-pro otiififs from other cities. Then tve*-star ted-a tour ,aiiil requests car, exhibition gabies. have kept us on tbfc road continually every season for 14:years, / hnvp;played from coast tb/coash from .Canada ’to Mexico.. “For.,; many, seasons we' went, south for” our SprIdg’ trdifiingr' foil o win g- the example of . the big leagues. The. last-two -years, because/of financial ccmrii-. lipps, we have trained a,t home. • ', 'Mpsf. of my men. are seasoned vet-, erans,. but I. don't keep them just because .they're young. They have to lielp win bair/; games or quit. We place no. false values on age, though w;e recognize. experience counts. -■ Our . youngest. .player, George An* dbrfeoh,/is only 21: He’s ah. expertcatcher, but balk playing isn't all of bis 39b.. We travel in our own lti-passon-Ker bps, and George* does all the'driving.. J-Ie flrives us .300 miles a.* day, takes care of tile-bus, and still plays daily baseball.'. He' also takes part in ibv pepper game.’.Thorpe revealed..that the team was plahniag an /invasion of Mexico and Sou Llr America; at) the conclusion of the pj*eseiiL season.-. . *Shaving At All TimesM(X DRINKSFrancis ' T’h'Qrjib Organized Team
Newspaper Details
Doylestown Intelligencer
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Aug 05, 1932
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Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 06 Apr 2023
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