When baseball swept America in the years after the Civil War, independent, semipro, and municipal leagues sprouted up everywhere. With civic pride on the line, rivalries were fierce, and teams often signed ringers to play alongside the town dentist, insurance salesman, and teen prodigy. In drought-stricken Bismarck, North Dakota, during the Great Depression, one of these teams, assembled by one of the sport's most unlikely champions, made history. A decade before Jackie Robinson broke into the Major Leagues, car dealer Neil Churchill signed the best players he could find, regardless of race, and fielded an integrated squad starring Satchel Paige that took on all corners in spectacular fashion.

Preface: Before 42 --Part one. Coming together: Prairieland of opportunity -- Grasshoppers and hickory sticks -- Birth of a salesman -- Worlds apart -- Over the color line -- Throwing fire -- Showtime -- Nameless dread -- Part two. Playing together: Come and gone -- Feeling the heat -- Marriages and separations -- Cat and moose -- Long rifle rides again -- "A riotous opera of extra-base hits..." -- Part three. Tested together: Little man, big idea -- Gunfight at the Cowtown Corral -- Big gun -- The Erle of Oklahoma -- Last team standing -- "Plenty of barn room" -- Endings -- Deep smoke winding.