Looking Back: 1981 Yankees Visit Greer Stadium

The Yanks are coming! The Yanks are coming!

That was the excitement generated when the 1981 New York Yankees were scheduled to play an exhibition game in Greer Stadium. Baseball's most historic team last played in Nashville in 1953 at the old Sulphur Dell Ballpark.

The Yankees were in the second year as the parent club of the hometown Double-A Nashville Sounds, members of the Southern League. Mickey Mantle was one of the stars to have played in 1953 and 28 years later, Reggie Jackson was the Yankee's big gun.

The game between the Sounds and Yankees drew an overflowing, standing room only crowd of 17,318 fans. At this time was the era of Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner's revolving managers, and Gene Michael was in Nashville that April 16 day to led the Bronx Bombers.

The season had already begun when the exhibition game was played. New York was on an off day traveling from Toronto for a game with Texas the next night. Jackson had been nursing a leg injury and was coming off the disabled list. He joined the team in Nashville and was inserted into the lineup as the designated hitter.

Starting for the Stump Merrill's Sounds was pitcher Dan Led Duke, while the Yanks countered with left-hander John Pacella. One other interesting note, Jackson was joining his new teammate Dave Winfield. The future Hall of Famer was in his first season in Yankee pinstripes after playing eight seasons in San Diego and becoming a free agent.

History repeated itself when in 1953, the Yankees swamped the Nashville Vols, 9-1. Only 2, 693 fans attended that game. Jackson led the latest version of Yankees to a 10-1 victory over the Sounds. He drove in four runs with a double and single in five plate appearances. Though he didn't hit a home run, the fans were entertained when Jackson drove a couple of foul baseballs out of the park. Batting left-handed, Jackson dropped his bat and glared as the ball quickly left the stadium.

The Yankees collected 12 hits in the rout while Pacella earned the victory with five innings of work. Led Duke took the loss after pitching just three innings while giving up seven hits and three runs. Other prominent Yankees to appear in the game were Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Bucky Dent, Lou Piniella, Bobby Murcer and future Sounds manager Johnny Oates.

Steinbrenner attended the game and said, "The Yankees looked good, but Nashville had to be a little nervous. There is a lot of difference between the major leagues and Class AA ball. But the Sounds got seven hits off Yankee pitching and that isn't bad. I saw four or five youngsters who I'll bet will be on major league rosters within the next couple of years."

Maybe the most popular Yankee that day was Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, a coach. Berra delighted the fans by taking time before and after the game to sign autographs. Other familiar names on the team, but didn't see action were, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Tommy John and Bob Watson.

"I just wish we had played a little better," Merrill said. "I think the kids were a little nervous. But, it was a good experience for us. Most of our guys haven't played against many Double-A teams, much less the New York Yankees."

The 1981 major league baseball season was a disaster losing a majority of fans. The owners and players could not reach a working agreement. The owners wanted to control skyrocketing salaries with a salary cap. Therefore the players went on strike for 50 days from mid-June until the end of July.

When the strike was resolved, a controversial split-season format was established. The Yankees were given the championship of the "first" season, but fell to sixth in the "second" season. With the poor second half showing, Michael was replaced by Bob Lemon.

New York did beat Milwaukee and Kansas City in the playoff system to earn the American League pennant. However, the Yankees lost to the Dodgers, four games to two, in the World Series.

The 1981 Sounds made it to the Southern League championship series after beating Memphis in the Western Division finals. Orlando won the Southern League championship by beating the Sounds, three games to one.

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