As Clemson prepares to play its bowl game at Yankee Stadium, Dabo Swinney admitted the moment will hit a little different for a former “baseball kid” who once dreamed on dusty fields in Alabama.
“Yeah, it's really amazing. I was a baseball kid growing up and coached my kids playing baseball,” Swinney said.
“I'm friends with Joe Madden. And when he was the manager of the Angels, they were playing in Boston.”
That friendship turned into a string of once-in-a-lifetime baseball experiences that Swinney still can’t quite believe.
Giving the Postgame Speech at Fenway Park
Swinney’s baseball journey took a wild turn in Boston, where his visit turned into something straight out of a movie.
“So went to Fenway Park and he got us tickets and we kind of sat right there by -- and they actually won the game versus the Red Sox,” Swinney said.
“The game is over, he brought me on the field to do the high-five line with all the players. Ohtani was on that team and I guess Mike Trout.”
Then it escalated.
“Anyway, the game is over, and he says, Hey, I want you to come into the locker room here and give the post game speech,” Swinney recalled.
“Next thing I know I'm in the locker room at Fenway Park giving the postgame talk to the Angels.”
First Pitch at Wrigley: “One of the Coolest Moments”
Fenway wasn’t the only iconic stop.
“Then I got to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field. That was one of the coolest moments that I've ever been a part of.”
For Swinney, that experience, combined with what’s coming next, feels almost unreal.
“Now I get to coach a game at Yankee Stadium. That is some kind of trifecta from a kid from Pelham, Alabama that grew up playing shortstop for the Panthers. Super proud of it.”
The Day He Walked Out of Yankee Stadium Carrying First Base
Swinney’s favorite Yankee Stadium memory came long before Clemson’s bowl invite — and it involved something you don’t usually see a fan carrying down the street.
“But I mentioned it earlier, it was on Memorial Day in 2018 we had gone up for a weekend in New York and to catch a Yankees game,” he said.
“Got a chance to be on the field with Joe, who was the manager then, and meet a lot of the players, et cetera.”
That’s when things got weird in the best way.
“Every two innings they picked the bases up and they put new bases down for some reason,” Swinney said.
“The guy walks over to me. I'm sitting right there, and he says, Coach, do you want the base? I'm, like, Yeah.”
So he took it. All of it.
“I literally walked out of Yankee Stadium back to our hotel with first base, the whole way,” he said.
“I got a lot of looks, but that was probably my greatest memory.”
“You Just Feel the History”
For Swinney, Yankee Stadium is about more than a quirky souvenir. It’s about stepping into a place that feels bigger than the game itself.
“You just feel the history when you approach the stadium. You feel the history.”
He loves more than just the field, too.
“Just touring around and seeing all the -- you know, they have a museum there at the stadium as well, and just going through and checking all that out was awesome,” he said.
“Jonny Mosley, who is a friend who works with the Yankees, he hosted us. It was an amazing experience.”
Now, instead of just touring or taking in a game, Swinney will be on the sideline coaching Clemson in a bowl game at Yankee Stadium — with all those memories, and that unlikely first base walk, already part of his personal highlight reel.