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In 1946 the new West Coast Negro League formed to expand professional black baseball out west. The Seattle franchise, the Steelheads, was actually The Harlem Globetrotters. Originally formed in 1944 as a barnstorming team, moved to Seattle in 1946 to join the West Coast Baseball Association. Not to be confused with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, they played straight baseball. The Negro League team that most resembled the basketball team was the Indianapolis Clowns.
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To gain local support they changed their name to the Seattle Steelhead, after the salmon runs. Other teams in the League included: Portland Rosebuds(owned by Jesse Owens), Oakland Larks, San Diego Tigers, Los Angels White Sox, and San Francisco Sea Lions. The League was set up so they would play in the PCL parks while their white counterparts were on the road. For the 1946 season, the teams were scheduled to play 110 games. Not only did they play in Seattle, but the Steelhead played games in Tacoma, Bremerton, Spokane, and Bellingham, to display professional black baseball to the region. As a result of manager/catcher Paul Hardy signing a contract before he was released by the Chicago American Giants, a ban against Negro American League teams playing in Seattle was instituted.
Unfortunately, the only teams that earned money to stay in business were Seattle and Oakland. As best that can be determined, when the League folded Oakland was in first and Seattle in second. The association ended in July of 1946, but the Steelheads played through September and once again became the Harlem Globetrotters.