You could call Steelheads Alley just another bar,
but that's like trying to catch a homerun off the bat of Ken Griffey Jr.
(bat hitting a ball
You're not even getting close.
I don't think there's anything like this
that's happening anywhere else in the US.
That's Rodney Hines, co-owner of Métier Brewing,
whose beers are featured at Steelheads, Alley and the Hat Back Bar and Grill.
The new and eagerly anticipated taproom and restaurant that opened this season
in the old Pyramid Brewery building across from T-Mobile Park.
(traffic)
(dance music)
But along with every meal here,
you'll get a big helping of history.
(funky music)
And you get your curiosity sparked
about the Negro Baseball League, about the Latino All-Star Game,
about women who've been left out, who are now playing professional softball.
You're going to learn all of that.
This space celebrates the Seattle Steelheads, part of the first professional
black baseball league on the West Coast, the West Coast Negro Baseball Association.
We're going to be telling all of that rich history.
Hines, one of our state's very few professional black brewers,
teamed up with the Mariners.
local artists and historians to build a unique space that tells the story
of the Steelheads and other almost forgotten teams of our region's past.
The fact that there is a bar that's dedicated to a team, like I'm
getting emotional just thinking about it, but there's a bar dedicated to a team
that was playing in a Negro baseball league.
Like, we should see more of this happening across the U.S..
But just making this happen in Seattle was a bit of a miracle in itself.
There's some great stories
that are told here visually, but it's the tip of the iceberg.
That's superstar baseball historian Dave Eskenazi,
whose collection makes up a majority of the photos and artifacts
you'll see in the 150 item Steelheads Alley Display.
Their story actually starts in 1944.
The origin of the Steelheads, is they were originally
the Harlem Globetrotters traveling baseball team.
The barnstorming bunch joined the West Coast
Negro League in 1946, but not for long.
That same year, the Brooklyn Dodgers
signed Jackie Robinson, which broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.
[Dave Eskenazi] And that just hoards of talented players would follow him to the major leagues.
So that spelled the demise of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association.
A challenge which Eskenazi and others helped to turn into an opportunity
by adding to this display.
Other pieces from the past of Pacific Northwest Baseball
dating back to the 1890s.
(slow hammond organ music)
[Dave Eskenazi] There's so much great baseball and athletic history
from underrepresented communities in this region.
Again, going back 120 years.
[Brian Callanan] And for Karen Jones, the history is personal.
Well, I got my little scooter and nothing is going to keep me away.
I can't wait to get down here.
Karen's grandpa was none other than Powell Barnett,
who she'll proudly tell you, was a musician,
and the founder of the Seattle Royal Giants,
another negro league team displayed at Steelheads Alley.
Plus, later, he founded the Northwest Umpire Association.
The Seattle park that bears his name
is less than two miles away from the site of the old Sick's Stadium
where he umpired games for Seattle Rainiers baseball.
I didn't know being with him in my younger
age is going to lead to something
of this great legacy.
And it's a legacy that Karen hopes to keep adding to.
Here we have Jackson street names in the middle of the year.
It's history and it's people need to know about it.
She's brought articles and photos of her grandfather
not only to Steelheads Alley, but to an archive in Seattle
known as the Black Heritage Society of Washington State.
Located in the MOHAI Resource Center.
History does not repeat, but it rhymes.
So it continues, it builds.
(metal drawer sliding open)
The president of the BHS,
Stephanie Johnson Toliver, is a fourth generation Seattlelite, who oversees
a massive collection of black history, mostly at this archive at Georgetown,
but also right in front of fans at Steelheads Alley.
[Stephanie Johnson Toliver] So that when they look into these photographs,
they'll want to go a little bit deeper
and find out more about the history of black baseball.
[Brian Callanan] When you do, you'll see players who survived segregation and racism
and fought for integration and acceptance on and off the field
challenges that represent a lot more than just a game.
[Stephanie Johnson Toliver] It's inclusive history.
We're just a part of a broader and bigger history, a national history,
not just a Washington state history, but it informs the nation.
It's part of the Pacific Northwest's past that
present day Mariner fans are lining up to see.
Heroes of our national pastime, triumphing against the odds.
Sound familiar?
[Rick Rizz] The pitch from Acevedo.
A drive deep to right field, down the line!
The Mariners win this game 2 to 1!
[Brian Callanan] The Steelheads Alley is here to add a few more highlights
to make sure we never forget.
I mean, I think it goes back
to knowing history to give us guidance for the future.
You know, if we're not collecting the history, who's going to do it?
There's a lot of stories that they've started
to tell in this space, and there's a lot more to come.
(gospel music)