"The bus broke down. It wheezed, coughed, choked, and came to a halt along the highway near Salem, Oregon. They had a game that night. Zell Miles was eager to take the field, as was Mike Berry. They both hopped off the bus exasperated as the vehicle sat idle. Howard Gay clambered down; Herb Simpson, too. Their gear was on the bus—the baseball bats, balls, catcher’s masks. Paul Hardy, the manager, had to think fast as he took off his baseball cap to wipe the sweat from his brow. He looked over at Nap Gulley, Everett Marcel, Joe Spencer—all guys eager to sprint out onto the field in Seattle’s Sick’s Stadium for their home opener. It was to be the first Seattle game of the newly formed Seattle Steelheads, a team in the newly minted West Coast Negro Baseball League." Jonathan Shipley has a really good article on the Harlem Globetrotters, or rather Seattle Steelheads, at