Seattle Steelheads
Information
League
LocationSeattle
Ballpark
Established1944
Disbanded1946
Nickname(s)
  • Harlem Globetrotters
  • Seattle Steelheads
  • Cincinnati Crescents

The Seattle Steelheads were a Negro league baseball team from Seattle, Washington. Owned by Abe Saperstein, they were also known as the Harlem Globetrotters and Cincinnati Crescents, though occasionally the teams split and played each other.

Founding

Abe Saperstein founded the Harlem Globetrotters baseball team in 1944 to complement his world-famous basketball team of the same name.[1]

Also owned by Saperstein,[2] the Cincinnati Crescents were an All-Star barnstorming baseball team that played in the mid-1940s. The team was managed by Winfield Welch, and featured players such as Bill Blair, Sherwood Brewer, Luke Easter, Alvin Gipson, Bill Jefferson, Leaman Johnson, and Johnny Markham. The Globetrotters and Crescents combined operations and were charter members of the West Coast Negro Baseball League, changing their name to the Seattle Steelheads.[1]

The Steelheads played in the West Coast Negro Baseball League and played their first game on June 1, 1946, against the San Diego Tigers, in front of 2,500 fans at Sick's Stadium. Its players included Cannonball Berry, Nap Gulley, Zell Miles, Rogers Pierre, Herb Simpson, and Fay Washington. The league folded after a month of play.

Controversy

Catcher and manager Paul Hardy joined the Steelheads while still under contract with the Chicago American Giants, causing the Negro American League to ban its teams from playing games in Seattle.[3]

Home fields

Their primary home ballpark was Sick's Stadium. They also planned home games in Tacoma, Bremerton, Spokane, and Bellingham.[4]

MLB throwback jerseys

The Seattle Mariners honored the Steelheads when they wore 1946 Steelheads uniforms on September 9, 1995, at home against the Kansas City Royals. The Royals wore Kansas City Monarchs uniforms.[5] The Mariners beat the Royals 6–4 in front of 39,157 fans at the Kingdome.[6] The game was attended by former Steelhead player Sherwood Brewer.[7] The Mariners wore a different variety of the Steelheads uniform on May 16, 2015, on "Turn Back the Clock Night" against the Boston Red Sox at Safeco Field,[8] and lost to the Red Sox 4–2. On June 19th, 2021 and June 19th, 2022 the Mariners again wore the 1946 uniforms as part of Juneteenth. They also Wore them on June 17th, 2023 due to not having a game on Juneteenth. [9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Wayback Machine: Seattle Steelheads' short life – Sportspress Northwest". www.sportspressnw.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ "Negro Stars In 9th Appearance". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Hawaii, Honolulu. October 8, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved September 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "nlbpa.com - Seattle Steelheads". www.nlbpa.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  4. ^ Gastineau, Mike; Art Thiel; Steve Rudman (2009). The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists. Basic Civitas Books. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7624-3522-7. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  5. ^ Anderson, Lenny (1995-04-14). "Negro League Seattle Steelheads Gone, But Not Forgotten". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  6. ^ "September 9, 1995 Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  7. ^ "Negro Leagues Salute". Jet. 1995-10-02. p. 45. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  8. ^ Seattle Mariners [@Mariners] (April 23, 2015). "The 1946 Seattle Steelheads will take the field on Turn Back the Clock Night, May 16. Tix: http://atmlb.com/1Dntk4O" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2015 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Jorstad, Anders (2021-03-24). "Mariners Moose Tracks, 3/24/21: Mariners Uniforms, George Springer, and Alex Kirilloff". Lookout Landing. Retrieved 2021-06-20.

External links

Further reading

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