The previous home of the Tar Heels was a multi-use venue called
Emerson Field, which sat some 2,400 people. The combination baseball/football field was opened in 1916 on the site of the existing athletic field (ca. 1900) and named for a university benefactor,
Captain Isaac E. Emerson, best known as the inventor of
Bromo-Seltzer. The football team left Emerson for
Kenan Memorial Stadium in 1927. Emerson would continue as the home of the baseball team for another 45 seasons. Its site is now occupied by Davis Library. Boshamer Stadium first opened on March 21, 1972, near the tail end of the 1972 season. It is named for Cary C. Boshamer (class of 1917), a textile industrialist from
Gastonia whose donation made the new stadium possible. Although many Tar Heels players and fans speak of the stadium as "the Bosh", apparently the family survivors favor the "Boss-hammer" pronunciation. It has hosted five
Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournaments, in
1973,
1975,
1981,
1982, and
1983. North Carolina won the 1982 and 1983 tournaments. The Tar Heels' on-field success during the mid-2000s coincided with the decision to rebuild the 35-year-old facility. Following the 2007 season, the stadium was almost completely demolished and rebuilt. UNC won their final game in the old Boshamer Stadium 9–4 over the
University of South Carolina.
2008 renovations Due to extensive renovations to Boshamer, the Tar Heels played their 2008 season at
USA Baseball National Training Complex in nearby
Cary. The rebuilt stadium first opened on February 2, 2009. At that time, the playing surface was formally renamed Bryson Field in honor of former first baseman Vaughn Bryson and his wife Nancy, both longtime supporters of the baseball program. The entrance courtyard of the rebuilt stadium is named for the
Steinbrenner family, as the result of a $1 million donation by
New York Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner, whose grandchildren graduated from UNC. Since expansion, the stadium has a listed capacity of 4,100, but has standing room for up to 5,000. Before renovations, it seated 3,000 people from the end of one dugout to the other. Today, seating extends down both the 1st and 3rd base lines. Sections past the dugout on the 1st base line are now reserved for student seating, nicknamed "The Bosh Pit". ==Attendance==