Left to right: Paul McCartney, George Harrison,
Ringo Starr, John Lennon
September 11, 1964: The Beatles play the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Playing outdoor professional sports stadiums was unusual for rock and roll acts at the time, because they usually couldn't fill them. Nevertheless, on this tour, The Beatles played the 32,000-seat Empire Stadium in Vancouver on August 22, the 62,000-seat Gator Bowl on September 11, and the 26,000-seat City Park Stadium (now Tad Gormley Stadium) in New Orleans on September 16.
The Jacksonville concert almost didn't happen, because the Fab Four found out that the audience was to be segregated. Apparently, no one in North Florida got the message: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been passed. John Lennon told them, point-blank, "We never play to segregated audiences, and we aren't going to start now. I'd sooner lose our appearance money." They did end up playing to a desegregated audience, of 23,000.
Things were further complicated by Hurricane Dora having hit the area the day before. It was still windy enough that Ringo Starr's drums had to be nailed to the stage.
None of the original 1927 stadium remains. The west upper deck, built as part of a 1982 expansion, was the only thing left standing after its 1995 conversion to bring in the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. The new stadium is now named EverBank Field.
UPDATE: The stadium began another renovation in 2025, one which forced the Jaguars to move their home games to Orlando for the 2026 season.
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September 11, 1964 was a Friday. Baseball star Ellis Burks was born. And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Perry outpitched Jim Bouton. Jimmie Hall and Don Mincher hit home runs. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. Joe Pepitone hit one out for the Yankees. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk. Roger Maris went 0-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tracy Stallard outpitched Larry Miller. Chris Cannizzaro went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Bill Monbouquette pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Dean Chance, who won the Cy Young Award that season. Rookie Tony Conigliaro went 3-for-4. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.
* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 5-2. The Kansas City Athletics won the nightcap, 8-0. John "Blue Moon" Odom pitched a 2-hit shutout, although he walked 6 batters. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 4-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 5-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bob Gibson pitched a 2-hit shutout, to outpitch Ernie Broglio. Lou Brock, whom the Cubs traded to get Broglio, went 3-for-5 with a stolen base and 2 RBIs. Ken Boyer went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Ernie Banks went 0-for-2 with a walk.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Denny Lemaster allowed only 1 hit, a single by Leo Cárdenas. Jim Maloney allowed only 2 hits. Felipe Alou drove in the only run of the game, Gene Oliver, with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th. Frank Robinson went 0-for-3. Hank Aaron did not play.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Colt .45s, 3-0 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Vernon Law pitched a 2-hit shutout. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4. The Colts moved into the Astrodome the next season, and were renamed the Houston Astros.
* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Dennis Bennett pitched a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Juan Marichal. The only run scored in the top of the 5th, when Rubén Amaro Sr. doubled Tony Taylor home. Willie Mays went 0-for-4. Willie McCovey appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.
