Bismarck Churchills
Encyclopedia
The Bismarck Churchills were an integrated semi-professional baseball
team based in Bismarck, North Dakota
in the 1930s. Led by Satchel Paige, Moose Johnson, and Double Duty Radcliffe, the club won the 1935 national semi-pro baseball tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
The Churchills played independently of any league because their mixed race roster was a problem in a period of segregation
, and because there were no formal leagues at the semi-professional level in North Dakota in the 1930s. The team was owned by Neil Churchill
, a local car dealer who owned the city's Chrysler dealership, and regularly played against Valley City, Jamestown, and other teams across North Dakota and Manitoba.
Although the club is recalled as the "Churchills" today, the team was not formally named in the 1930s, as North Dakota newspapers such as the Bismarck Tribune simply referred to the club as the "Bismarcks" in 1935. The team was also referred to as the "Giants" (written on old team photo)
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team based in Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
in the 1930s. Led by Satchel Paige, Moose Johnson, and Double Duty Radcliffe, the club won the 1935 national semi-pro baseball tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
The Churchills played independently of any league because their mixed race roster was a problem in a period of segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, and because there were no formal leagues at the semi-professional level in North Dakota in the 1930s. The team was owned by Neil Churchill
Neil Churchill
Neil O. Churchill was a car dealer in Bismarck, North Dakota who funded an integrated baseball team in the mid-thirties more than a decade before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball....
, a local car dealer who owned the city's Chrysler dealership, and regularly played against Valley City, Jamestown, and other teams across North Dakota and Manitoba.
Although the club is recalled as the "Churchills" today, the team was not formally named in the 1930s, as North Dakota newspapers such as the Bismarck Tribune simply referred to the club as the "Bismarcks" in 1935. The team was also referred to as the "Giants" (written on old team photo)
Notable players
- Ted "Double Duty" RadcliffeTed RadcliffeTheodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe was at his death thought to be the oldest living professional baseball player , one of only a handful of major league players who lived past their 100th birthdays, and a former star in the...
(1934) - Leroy "Satchel" PaigeSatchel PaigeLeroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
- Quincy TrouppeQuincy TrouppeQuincy Thomas Trouppe was an American professional baseball player and an amateur boxing champion. He was a catcher in the Negro Leagues from 1930 to 1949. He was a native of Dublin, Georgia....
- Hilton SmithHilton SmithHilton Lee Smith was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. In 2001 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
- Moose Johnson