Mariners Unveil Negro Leagues Uniforms, Fund Local Programs

0:00It's March 29th. You're listening to Seattle Mariners News today, AI-powered coverage of your squad. The Seattle Mariners are stepping up tonight, with more than just their Sunday night baseball debut. They're unveiling new steelheads uniforms to honor. A forgotten Negro League's team from right here in Seattle back in 1946. These black and cream jerseys mark the first time any major league baseball team has added a historic Negro League's look to its regular rotation. Swapping out the old Royal Blue and Yellow Sunday, alternates for good on home Sundays. This short-lived squad was part of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association, started by Olympian Jesse Owens and Harlem Globe Trotter's owner Abe. Saperstein. They played just half a season at Six Stadium, squeezing in home games when the local minor league team hit the road. Even Mariners veterans like Mark Maclamore and Mike Cameron, who know their Negro League's history cold, got blindsided by this gem, turns out though.

1:00Steelheads flew way under the radar. Current player Josh Naylor called it one of the coolest uniforms he's ever rocked and everyone seized it as a bridge from Seattle's past to the big. Leagues today. On top of the jerseys, the team is dropping $500,000 into local black-led baseball and softball groups plus funneling merch. Sales and Sunday 5050 raffle cast strayed to community programs through their new steelheads fund. It's a smart play by the Mariners, keeping the Negro League's fire alive while building up the next generation right in the Pacific Northwest.