Hired Batteries: The Time of Independent Semi-Pro Baseball in North Dakota

When most people think of baseball in North Dakota, they remember the famous 1935 Bismarck team with Satchel Paige that won the national semi-pro championship. What is not as well-known is that dozens of communities in North Dakota employed salaried players during the 1920s and 1930s. Ex-major leaguers, including the exiled Chicago Black Sox Swede Risberg, and top Negro League stars played for small towns in all parts of the state. Hired Batteries is the story of semi-pro baseball in North Dakota during those years.