TIMELINES
When the Circus Came to Boshamer Stadium
The scene
literally buzzed.
One Carolina
player who
happened to be a
walk-on pleaded
for no rain.
Down the
first-base line,
a wiry fan with
red hair blurted
that he wasn’t a
Yankees fan but
had to be there
for a slice
of baseball
history.
On the field,
the Heels
gawked and the
Bronx Bombers
mugged and
clowned with the
fans.All that
temporarily
ended at 2: 30.
Game time.
Tand under leaden skies. Rain was
expected, and so was a juggernaut
hat Saturday, April 2, dawned mild
from out of the north. Town and campus
braced. Then word raced of a sighting. History records that around 12: 45 in the afternoon, Chapel Hill was occupied by a force
that made its way down Ridge Road. In a
chartered bus. One hundred 12 years earlier, the Yanks had been led by Sherman.
This time, in 1977, by a “general” named
Steinbrenner. Full circle.
Inside that bus was a team that had
earned 30 American League pennants and
20 World Series titles. Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner brought his club to
Carolina ostensibly to honor Coach Walter
Rabb ’ 41 (MA), who was stepping down
after 31 seasons as head coach of the Tar
Heel baseball program. Another impetus for
the visit was to express Steinbrenner’s
appreciation to the school where his daughter Jenny ’ 81 was an incoming freshman
and recent Morehead Scholarship winner.
Regardless of the reason, the arrival of
the defending American League champs
was eagerly anticipated. Traffic was snarled.
An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fans packed
Boshamer Stadium, its fences, trees and
even the balconies of the nearby Ehring-haus and Avery dorms. Fans of every age
nudged each other in disbelief. There — in
the flesh — were Mickey Rivers, Thurman
Munson, Chris Chambliss, Graig Nettles,
Willie Randolph, “Catfish” Hunter and
newly pinstriped Reggie Jackson. And,
sprinkles on the cupcake, baseball immortals
Whitey Ford, Elston Howard and the man
who made fracturing the English language
an art, Yogi Berra. All led by feisty little Billy
Martin. The circus had come to town.
The scene literally buzzed. One Carolina player who happened to be a walk-on pleaded for no rain. Down the first-base
line, a wiry fan with red hair blurted that
he wasn’t a Yankees fan but had to be there
for a slice of baseball history. On the field,
the Heels gawked and the Bronx Bombers
mugged and clowned with the fans. All
that temporarily ended at 2: 30. Game time.
Carolina’s starting pitcher was Matt Wil-
son ’ 78. Biblically speaking, he was David …
and a lineup of Goliaths was coming to the
plate. Wilson’s heart must have been in his
throat. Yet he selected proper stones, because
to the crowd’s delirious delight, down went
Rivers, Roy White and Munson, 1-2-3. In
Carolina’s first at-bat, outfielder P.J. Gay ’ 80
led off and, lo and behold, lined a single to
right. An errant pickoff attempt by Yankee
pitcher Gil Patterson sent Gay racing to second. A ground-out moved him to third, and
then a fielder’s choice scored Gay. For-the-love-of-the-Almighty-could-you-believe-it,
the Heels led 1-0.
The lead triggered a verbal beanball
from Reggie Jackson, and it was aimed at
Dean Smith’s basketball Tar Heels. From
the Yankees dugout he shouted, “We’re in
trouble now. They’re going to go to Four
Corners.” Undaunted, Wilson got even
with the Four Corners critic when he
fanned Jackson in the top of the second. In
This cartoon,
by John Branch ’ 76,
appeared in The
Chapel Hill
Newspaper on April
1, 1977. Branch
drew for The Daily
Tar Heel and the
town daily; he has
been editorial cartoonist for the San
Antonio Express-News since 1981.
NORTH CAROLINA
COLLECTION
