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You could call Steelheads Alley
 just another bar,

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but that's like trying to catch a homerun
off the bat of Ken Griffey Jr.

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(bat hitting a ball

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You're not even getting close.

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I don't think there's anything like this

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that's happening anywhere else in the US.

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That's Rodney Hines,
co-owner of Métier Brewing,

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whose beers are featured at Steelheads,
Alley and the Hat Back Bar and Grill.

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The new and eagerly anticipated taproom
and restaurant that opened this season

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in the old Pyramid Brewery
building across from T-Mobile Park.

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(traffic)

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(dance music)

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But along with every meal here,

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you'll get a big helping of history.

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(funky music)

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And you get your curiosity sparked

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about the Negro Baseball League,
about the Latino All-Star Game,

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about women who've been left out,
who are now playing professional softball.

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You're going to learn all of that.

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This space celebrates the Seattle Steelheads,
part of the first professional

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black baseball league on the West Coast,
the West Coast Negro Baseball Association.

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We're going to be telling all of that
rich history.

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Hines, one of our state's
very few professional black brewers,

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teamed up with the Mariners.

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local artists and historians to build
a unique space that tells the story

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of the Steelheads and other almost
forgotten teams of our region's past.

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The fact that there is a bar
that's dedicated to a team, like I'm

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getting emotional just thinking about it,
but there's a bar dedicated to a team

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that was playing in a Negro baseball
league.

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Like, we should see more of this
happening across the U.S..

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But just making this happen in Seattle
was a bit of a miracle in itself.

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There's some great stories

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that are told here visually,
but it's the tip of the iceberg.

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That's superstar
baseball historian Dave Eskenazi,

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whose collection makes up a majority
of the photos and artifacts

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you'll see in the 150 item
Steelheads Alley Display.

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Their story actually starts in 1944.

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The origin of the Steelheads,
is they were originally 

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the Harlem Globetrotters
traveling baseball team.

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The barnstorming bunch
joined the West Coast

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Negro League in 1946, but not for long.

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That same year, the Brooklyn Dodgers

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signed Jackie Robinson, which broke
Major League Baseball's color barrier.

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[Dave Eskenazi]  And that just hoards of talented players
would follow him to the major leagues.

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So that spelled the demise of the West
Coast Negro Baseball Association.

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A challenge which Eskenazi and others
helped to turn into an opportunity

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by adding to this display.

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Other pieces from the past of Pacific
Northwest Baseball

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dating back to the 1890s.

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(slow hammond organ music)

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[Dave Eskenazi]  There's so much great
baseball and athletic history

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from underrepresented communities
in this region.

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Again, going back 120 years.

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[Brian Callanan]  And for Karen Jones,
the history is personal.

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Well, I got my little scooter
and nothing is going to keep me away.

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I can't wait to get down here.

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Karen's grandpa was none
other than Powell Barnett,

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who she'll proudly tell you, was a musician,

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and the founder of the Seattle
Royal Giants,

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another negro league team
displayed at Steelheads Alley.

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Plus, later, he founded the Northwest
Umpire Association.

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The Seattle park
that bears his name

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is less than two miles away from
the site of the old Sick's Stadium

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where he umpired games for Seattle
Rainiers baseball.

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I didn't know being with him in my younger

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age is going to lead to something

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of this great legacy.

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And it's a legacy that Karen hopes
to keep adding to.

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Here we have Jackson street
names in the middle of the year.

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It's history
and it's people need to know about it.

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She's brought articles
and photos of her grandfather

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not only to Steelheads Alley,
but to an archive in Seattle

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known as the Black Heritage
Society of Washington State.

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Located in the MOHAI
Resource Center.

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History does not repeat, but it rhymes.

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So it continues, it builds.

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(metal drawer sliding open)

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The president of the BHS,

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Stephanie Johnson Toliver, is a fourth
generation Seattlelite, who oversees

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a massive collection of black history,
mostly at this archive at Georgetown,

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but also right in front of fans
at Steelheads Alley.

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[Stephanie Johnson Toliver]
So that when they look into these photographs,

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they'll want to go a little bit deeper

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and find out
more about the history of black baseball.

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[Brian Callanan]  When you do, you'll see
players who survived segregation and racism

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and fought for integration and acceptance
on and off the field

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challenges that represent a lot
more than just a game.

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[Stephanie Johnson Toliver]
It's inclusive history.

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We're just a part of a broader
and bigger history, a national history,

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not just a Washington state history,
but it informs the nation.

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It's part of the Pacific Northwest's
past that

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present day
Mariner fans are lining up to see.

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Heroes of our national pastime,
triumphing against the odds.

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Sound familiar?

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[Rick Rizz]  The pitch from Acevedo.

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A drive deep to right field,
down the line!

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The Mariners win this game 2 to 1!

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[Brian Callanan]  The Steelheads Alley
is here to add a few more highlights

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to make sure we never forget.

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I mean, I think it goes back

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to knowing history
to give us guidance for the future.

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You know, if we're not collecting
the history, who's going to do it?

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There's a lot of stories
that they've started

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to tell in this space,
and there's a lot more to come.

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(gospel music)