Time was, when this was Gary Wilson’s playground.
Twin brother Jerry Wilson’s playground, too, where the little frame house at 2116 Rock Ave. overlooked the baseball field of what was Fayetteville High School and where those Bulldogs of spring answered the game’s calling.
“Baseball was a very big part of our lives,” Gary Wilson, 78, said Thursday night before he would return to the diamond once more — this time to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as Terry Sanford High School hosted rival E.E. Smith in an All American Conference game.
Gingerly, with old teammates, an old coach and friends, Gary Wilson would take measured steps toward the pitcher’s mound. Coach Sam Guy’s Bulldogs would stand in the dugout with a reverence for the Bulldog pitcher from another generation.
Gary Wilson confessed to butterflies.
“I’m nervous about getting it to the catcher,” he said.
His mind wandered to yesteryear and that 1963 baseball season in every young man’s time of innocence, when school days were such a part of youth seemingly never to wane.
The old house at 2116 Rock Ave., where Rossie Barnwell raised her grandsons, long is gone — condemned, razed and now part of a double townhouse. She was the twins’ compass in life. She was their everything.
“Our grandmother raised us,” Gary Wilson said in 2021, when Jerry Wilson died at age 76 on Nov. 3. “She introduced us to a carpenter. His name was Jesus, and because of that, our lives changed.”
Gary Wilson adored his grandmother. He loved his brother and was by Jerry Wilson’s side throughout his brother’s cancer and heart struggles and final days.
He looked toward the baseball field, with 2116 Rock Ave. just beyond the outfield fence.
“I’m thinking about my grandmother,” he would say. “And Jerry.”
They’ll be watching, friends assured. They’ll be watching.
He offered an affirmative nod. He felt a grandmother’s presence in his heart. He felt a brother’s presence.
Old Bulldog legends
For Sam Guy, 46, who has coached the Bulldogs for 14 seasons, having Wilson on the field was a part of telling the legacy of the school’s baseball history. That legacy includes athletes such as George Armstrong, Tommy Bradford, Sammy Bradford, Neil Buie, Bobby Spicer and the late Chris Cammack.
“Coach Wilson will always have a special place in my heart,” Guy said of Wilson, who was a volunteer coach in 2011 and 2012. “Seeing him was great, and I have tried to make sure that I text or call him every so often just to touch base over the years.
“I know that he has had a tough time since Jerry passed away, and his wife. But he is such a good person, who has loved his family and especially his grandkids and has supported them so much. It was just a really special moment to see him walk out onto the field and make that throw. Seeing the pride in his face was awesome. It was a strike as well.
“I just think highly of him and I am glad that he was able to come and do this for us as a program.
“I want our current players to understand the importance of the past and the history our school has and the people that have meant so much to our school and community,” Guy continued. “That is why we started having people that have come from Fayetteville High-Terry Sanford come back to throw out a first pitch. Just to make sure that they know that we appreciate them, want to honor them, and thank them for paving the way for us to be where we are now.”
Forever young
Gary Wilson was on his way toward the pitching mound, where 61 years before he’d be a part of late Coach Bob Reynolds’ squad that would be the first winning team in history after the school was moved from downtown along Fort Bragg Road in 1957.
“I believe I was 8-2 or 7-1” Wilson said about his senior year. “But I remember when Danny Talbot of Rocky Mount put one out of the park.”
Gary Wilson was a right-hander with a fastball in those days. Jerry Wilson was the catcher.
“You couldn’t tell them apart from one another,” said old friend Jimmy Byrd, class of 1961.
Byrd would join with Wayne Byrd, Bill Vurnakes, Richard Alligood and Jack McGinley, the assistant coach under Reynolds, in helping their old friend to the pitcher’s mound.
He was frail.
He was fragile.
But …
He was that 17-year-old right-hander and forever a baseball Bulldog yet once again.
“I am glad that Coach Guy asked me to be a part of such a nice moment honoring Mr. Wilson,” said Ryan Seagroves, 17, who served as the catcher. “It meant a lot to me to be able to be on the receiving end of the pitch Mr. Wilson threw.”
It was a fastball, but not like yesteryear when brother Jerry Wilson was behind home plate.
“I think it was a strike,” Gary Wilson said with wry humor as he left the field. “It was as fast as I could throw it.”
‘It meant a lot to him’
It was a poignant night underneath the baseball lights.
“It meant so much for him,” Wayne Byrd said.
Jack McGinley, the pitcher who led Wake Forest University to the 1955 NCAA World Series title before later joining the coaching staff at FHS, would say so, too.
“A good lift for him,” McGinley, 89, said. “It meant a lot to him.”
So much meaning, Bill Vurnakes added.
“To be able to walk out on that field again last night was like a shot of adrenalin for him,” said Vurnakus, 80, who is a 1963 classmate. “He was up mentally and physically. His cancer and chemotherapy have obviously taken its toll, meaning considerable diminished physical stamina. But the will and sense of humor came through loud and clear. Terry Sanford baseball coach Sam Guy saw to it things went like clockwork and that it was a special tribute to Gary.”
Epilogue
Gary Wilson was pensive before this night just across the way from left field and 2116 Rock Ave., where Rossie Barnwell was the grandmother who taught the twins about life and a carpenter’s promise.
“I’m thinking about my grandmother, and Jerry,” he said, his words breaking with emotion. “I’ll never forget this night.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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