The best baseball team in 1935 may not have been in the major leagues, but may have been located in Bismarck.

The team featured two men who are now in the major league hall of fame and had five pitchers who later became all-star hurlers. The ace of the staff was Satchel Paige, argued by many as the best pitcher of all time.

Semi-pro teams in North Dakota utilized three categories of players that were not welcome in the major leagues: African-Americans, those banned from professional baseball, and those who had serious substance abuse problems.

Major league baseball owners had a "gentleman's agreement" not to employ blacks on their teams, but this was not the case in North Dakota.

As early as 1899, Walter Ball was the star pitcher in Grand Forks. Later, many teams in the state employed black baseball players.

By the 1930s, major league owners no longer tolerated players who were unable to function on the field because of alcohol problems. However, most semi-pro managers believed it was better to have outstanding players who could function 80 percent of the time than to have mediocre players at 100 percent.

The man who put together the outstanding Bismarck team of 1935 was Neil O. Churchill. He had been a very good semi-pro player and, while in Wisconsin, was the catcher for future hall of fame pitcher Burleigh Grimes.

Following World War I, Churchill came to Bismarck and became the star player. He became the team's manager in 1926 and bought the team in 1933. Churchill also was the owner of the Prince Hotel, the business partner of Wickham Corwin in an automobile dealership, and the coach of the Bismarck Prowlers (later named the Phantoms) semi-pro basketball team.

This team played opponents from all over and occasionally played the Harlem Globetrotters, a traveling all-black team that usually dominated their opponents. Its owner and coach was Abe Saperstein, with whom Churchill struck up a friendship.

In 1933, when Churchill assumed ownership of the Bismarck baseball team (they were called the Grays prior to his ownership and then became the Churchills), he immediately looked to make them very strong. With the help of Saperstein, Churchill contacted some of the best black ballplayers available.

To start the season, he signed Roosevelt Davis, an outstanding pitcher with the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Later in the season, he signed Red Haley, a hard-hitting shortstop from the Memphis Red Sox, and Quincy Trouppe, a promising young catcher with the Chicago American Giants. He also signed second baseman Harold Massman from the All-Nations team and outfielder Bill Morlan from Jefferson City, Iowa.

Not only could Churchill pay them top dollar (between $100-$200 a month), but the players also stayed rent-free at his hotel, and he often threw in an automobile from his dealership as a bonus.

Churchill also retained a couple of white ballplayers on his team, notably second baseman Mike Goetz and third baseman Bob McCarney. After his playing days were over, McCarney stayed in Bismarck and became a rival of Churchill's in the auto dealership business.

Churchill's biggest nemesis in 1933 was the Jamestown Red Sox. With the season winding down, the bragging rights for best team in the state would be determined in the last couple of weeks. Churchill was able to persuade Satchel Paige to play for his team, and, on Aug. 10, 1933, Paige signed a contract. He pitched in nine games for Bismarck, of which he won seven, and did not lose any of his decisions.

Paige had a verbal agreement with Churchill that he would return to Bismarck in 1934. Anticipating a fantastic year, Churchill renovated the ball park by adding 3000 seats in the grandstand, a bleacher section for children, and greatly enlarging the parking facilities beyond the outfield fence so that people could watch the game from their automobiles.

Upon completion, its dimensions were larger than every major league stadium, except for Schieb Park, the home of the Philadelphia Athletics.

When the 1934 season was about to begin, Churchill received three serious setbacks. Paige did not return as promised, and the New Rockford team outbid Bismarck for the services of Roosevelt Davis.

Churchill had also negotiated for fastball pitcher Sug Cornelius of the Chicago American Giants. The Giants, still smarting from losing Quincy Trouppe to Churchill a year earlier, had Cornelius thrown in jail for breaking his contract to prevent him from joining the Bismarck team.

However, Churchill did sign standout pitchers Barney Morris and Lefty Vincent from the Negro Leagues. From the All-Nations team Churchill signed, Walter "Beef" Ringhofer at first base, Joe "Dago" Desiderato at third, and Mike Canizzo in the outfield. He also retained Trouppe, Haley, Massmann, Morlan, McCarney and Goetz.

Once again, their stiffest competition came from Jamestown. At season's end, Bismarck finished with a record of 61 wins and 18 losses. Churchill believed they could have done better if he had not let some players slip through his fingers. He was not about to let that happen in 1935.

Next week we will examine the 1935 team from Bismarck.

(Written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen. Reach the Eriksmoens at cjeriksmoen@;cableone.net)