Dolly Parton took a swing at Yankee Stadium in 1987 for her TV show 'Dolly'
Dolly Parton puts on a Yankees hat during a visit to Yankee Stadium on Sept. 1, 1987. Parton, standing next to third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, was at the stadium filming segments for her upcoming television series "Dolly." Credit: AP/Louis Requina
On Sept. 1, 1987, Yankee Stadium turned into Dollywood.
Country music legend Dolly Parton visited the Yankees on that date to film a segment for her ABC variety show, “Dolly!”
She took a swing, tried on a Yankees jacket, had a Yankees cap perched atop her iconic blonde wig, and posed for a photo with players Rick Cerone, Ron Guidry, Mike Pagliarulo and Dave Righetti.
“YANKEES WELCOME DOLLY PARTON” read a message on the centerfield scoreboard.
The Yankees and Major League Baseball posted the photo on social media on Tuesday in honor of Parton, who died on Tuesday at the age of 80.
“We join the rest of the world in mourning the passing of entertainment icon Dolly Parton,” MLB posted on its social media accounts.
According to an Associated Press story from that time, Parton was filming a special “Out and About” comedy segment for her show, which debuted later that month and lasted one season.
In 2024, Parton posted a video on TikTok showing highlights from her visit and titled it, “Back when I visited Yankee Stadium. How’s my swing?”
It was pretty good. On the video, Parton connected with her one swing.
“What if I actually hit this thing?” she said on the video. “Am I going to hurt somebody?”
Pagliarulo, a Yankees third baseman, gave her the Yankees jacket and said, “On behalf of the New York Yankees, Dolly, I would like to give you this fine jacket.”
“Well, thank you,” Parton said. “I’d like to jump in it. That looks great. I need a hat to go with this. Not that I can get it over all this hair, but I can try.”
After she put on the hat, Parton said: “Do I look like an official New York Yankee?”
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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