Even if you’re one of the most casual of Carolina baseball fans, you know that since the early 1970s, the Tar Heels have played their home games at Boshamer Stadium, one of the Top 20 largest NCAA Division I baseball venues by seating capacity in the country.

As you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard the voice inside your head pronounce “Boshamer” like many fans recognize it today – “Bosh-a-mer.” Whether you’ve attended a game in person, listened on the radio, or watched on television, this is a pronunciation that you’ve heard dozens of times.

However, in a recent interview on the Carolina Insider podcast, former head coach Mike Fox presented an alternate pronunciation for the iconic home of the Diamond Heels.

You told me there would be no hard questions before I came in here,” laughed the longtime skipper for the Tar Heels, who won 948 games between 1999 and his retirement in 2020. “I’ve always called it Cary C. Bosh-hammer Stadium. Have I been wrong all these years?”

“That’s the name – Bosh-hammer – that’s the name I’ve always heard since I’ve arrived here,” Fox said. “That’s even dating back to my days as a student.” (Fox played second base for the Tar Heels from 1976-1978.)

Which leads us to wonder…Bosh-a-mer, Bosh-hammer, or some other way…how should Boshamer really be pronounced?

WHO IS BOSHAMER, ANYWAY?

For six decades, Carolina Baseball played their home games on Emerson Field, the University’s main athletic field that dated to 1916. Home to Carolina’s football and track teams – who moved to Kenan Stadium in 1927 and Fetzer Field in 1935, respectively – Emerson Field was razed in 1967 to make way for Davis Library and the Graham Student Union.

The baseball team needed a new “home field,” and would move a short distance down Country Club Drive, to a baseball diamond located adjacent to Avery Dorm. Originally announced in March of 1970, Boshamer Stadium would be built around the existing diamond and was made possible by a gift from Gastonia textile industrialist Cary C. Boshamer, who graduated from Carolina in 1917.

Boshamer, who played football for the Tar Heels during his time as a student and was later a member of the University of North Carolina system Board of Trustees, was described by past Carolina Chancellor Lyle Sitterson as a “loyal friend” to the University.

“Mr. Boshamer is one of the most loyal friends of the University,” Sitterson was quoted in a March 1970 Daily Tar Heel article. “His generosity extends to all areas of the University. The Boshamer professorship and Boshamer scholarship along with his other contributions are making possible significant advancements at the University. We are deeply grateful for him.”

“This gift is another example of Mr. Boshamer’s tremendous interest in and loyalty to the University,” added then baseball coach Walter Rabb. “It is something in which all Carolina baseball people will take pride. We are deeply grateful for his wonderful generosity to the athletic program and to the University.”

Carolina began play in the stadium during the summer of 1971, and Boshamer Stadium was officially dedicated on April 8, 1972 – a doubleheader where the Diamond Heels were no-hit by Maryland in the first game. In fact, a broken bat from that game that was presented to Mr. Boshamer mid-game resides in the Carolina Baseball Museum to this day.

Unfortunately, Boshamer would pass away the next year, in June of 1973. But his legacy at Carolina continues to live on in many ways across the University.

“BOSH” MAGIC

Through the years, the most-common pronunciation of Boshamer has proven to be the phonetic “Bosh-a-mer” version. Fans, television broadcasters, and even members of the baseball program typically refer to Carolina Baseball’s home field in this way.

“I pronounce it Bosh-a-mer Stadium,” said incoming freshman pitcher Ryan Lynch – a sentiment that was echoed by his battery mate, freshman catcher Mitch Wilson.

The same holds true for Carolina Baseball radio play-by-play voice Dave Nathan, who has been calling games for the Diamond Heels since 2013.

“The way that I’ve always said it is ‘Bosh-a-mer,’ Nathan said. “That’s the way I’ve always heard it. I know there are stories out there where the family has preferred the ‘Boss-hammer’ pronunciation, and I recall from doing shows with Coach Fox that he always put a little extra pronunciation on ‘Bosh-hammer’ but most of the people I’ve heard say it is the way I say it, which is ‘Bosh-a-mer.’”

“It’s funny though, with every game that we do on the radio, we have a pronunciation guide for the players’ names on both teams,” he continued. “Maybe we need to add Boshamer Stadium to that list going forward.”

There is a slight deviation, depending on who you ask, however. An example: freshman shortstop Boaz Harper actually leans more towards Coach Fox’s long time “Bosh-hammer” pronunciation.

While the name is known primarily in baseball circles at Carolina, the Boshamer family name also has a strong non-athletic significance at the University.

A FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR

While the “Bosh-a-mer” pronunciation is common throughout the University of North Carolina, a more definitive answer might be found from someone close to the family.

Boshamer and his wife Kathleen, who passed in 1979, did not have children of their own. He was succeeded in his textile businesses by two nephews, Wilson and Henry, who have also since passed away. However, that doesn’t mean that the “official” Boshamer pronunciation is lost to time.

In a May 2010 issue of the Gaston Gazette, a former neighbor of the Boshamers, Mike Sumner, was profiled by the paper for donating the aforementioned broken bat from the 1972 dedication game to the newly-opened-at-the-time Carolina Baseball Museum.

“I had gone with Mr. Boshamer to the stadium dedication game against Maryland,” Sumner told the paper in 2010. “And the second batter for North Carolina broke his bat and (UNC) coach (Walter) Rabb came over and gave it to Mr. Boshamer. Mr. Boshamer later gave the bat to me, and I’ve kept it ever since.”

Sumner was a pseudo-grandson to the Boshamers and would regularly accompany “Mr. Boshamer” to countless Carolina sporting events in the 1960s and 1970s. More than 50 years after their friendship formed, he is adamant about the one true pronunciation of “Boshamer.”

“It’s Boss-hammer,” Sumner said. “His family is from Salzburg, Austria, and it is pronounced Bosh-hammer over in Austria, but he was very adamant about Boss-hammer. I heard him correct many people that tried to call him Bosh-a-mer or Bosh-hammer, but it was Boss-Hammer.”

“I asked him once, and he said, ‘Well, it’s a German name, but we’re in America now.’” Sumner said. “I met the rest of his family when I was in college. I went over to see them, and they go by Bosh-hammer, but Mr. Boshamer, he was adamant about it. I think from my 13th to 14th birthday to when he died, when I was maybe 18 or 19, it wasn’t a week would go by where he wouldn’t correct somebody on that.”

(Author’s Note: There is also a note in the Wikipedia page for Boshamer Stadium that the family preferred the “Boss-hammer” pronunciation, citing a now-dead link to an article from Charlotte’s WBTV.)

“THE BOSS”

With the (perhaps) de facto answer coming from a longtime family friend, is it time to start putting the correct emphasis on the Diamond Heels’ home? Sumner thinks so.

“To me, I don’t think people should call it Bosh-a-mer Stadium, because that’s not how Mr. Boshamer pronounced his name,” he said. “I know people call it ‘The Bosh,’ but if you’re looking for a new nickname, you can call it ‘The Boss.”

“To me, that’s better than ‘The Bosh,’ anyway! What even is a ‘Bosh’?”