Pittsburgh Triangles

World Team Tennis (1974-1976)

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Pittsburgh Triangles
Team Tennis T-Shirt

The Triangles were a terrific entry in the early years of World Team Tennis. The Tris posted a league best record of 90-42 between 1974 and 1976 and won the 1975 league title with stars Evonne Goolagong and Vitas Gerulaitis leading the way.

This design is available as a unisex t-shirt and as in a women’s  racerback tank style from Old School Shirts!

 

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Background

The Steelers and the Pirates were not the Steel City’s only championship teams during the 1970’s. Pittsburgh also had the Triangles – a co-ed, six-player World Team Tennis promotion that played at the Civic Arena and brought home a title in 1975 with the help of Grand Slam champions Evonne Goolagong and Vitas Gerulaitis.

World Team Tennis formed in 1973 and played its first campaign in 1974. Matches consisted of five sets – one each in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Teams earned a point for each game won. Clubs played a 44-match spring/summer schedule in air conditioned NBA and NHL arenas with a three-week break for Wimbledon in June. WTT made a deliberate effort to break from tennis’ reputation as a stuffy country club pastime with hushed crowds and shushing umpires. The league embraced arena rock music, raucous cheering from fans and goofy mascots, much to the initial bewilderment of the league’s many foreign players.

Pittsburgh was one of sixteen original franchises. The face of the co-ed league was Billie Jean King. King was at the peak of her fame. The 30-year old was fresh off a Wimbledon championship in 1973 and her historic take down of Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition at the Houston Astrodome in September 1973. An estimated 48 million Americans watched the Battles of the Sexes on television – more than a fifth of the U.S. population at the time. King was the biggest star to sign with the controversial league and promoted the Team Tennis concept relentlessly. She played for the Philadelphia Freedoms franchise.

Rosewall, Goolagong & Gerulaitis

The Triangles also boasted an impressive roster. Eight-time Grand Slam champion Ken Rosewall coached the Triangles for their first season in 1974, but did not suit up for the team. Rosewall’s squad included 1971 Wimbledon & French Open women’s champion Evonne Goolagong of Australia along with her doubles partner Peggy Michel. The Triangles also signed 19-year phenom Vitas Gerulaitis, the “Lithuanian Lion”. Gerulaitis quickly became a fan favorite at Pittsburgh Civic Arena with his own cheering section: The G-Men.

After a 30-14 regular season in 1974, the Triangles lost to Billie Jean King’s Philadelphia Freedoms in the playoff semi-finals.

1975 Championship Season

1975 was the magic season for the Triangles. Goolagong’s mentor Vic Edwards replaced Rosewall as the Tri’s coach. The team raced to a league-best 36-8 record in the regular season. On July 26th, 1975 a league-record crowd of 10,236 turned out at the Civic Arena to cheer on the first place Triangles against King’s new team, the New York Sets. Goolagong beat King 6-4 in singles play, then teamed with Peggy Michel to topple King and her doubles partner Mona Schallau.

In August 1975, the Triangles faced the Golden Gaters in the WTT’s best of 3 championship series. After dropping the first match in an upset at Oakland, the Triangles returned to the Civic Arena needing back-to-back wins on August 24th and 25th. They got them, putting away the Golden Gaters 21-14 in the decisive 3rd game before 6,882 fans. Goolagong was named the league’s Female MVP while Gerulaitis was MVP of the postseason.

Early in the 1974 season, Frank Fuhrer purchased controlling interest in the Tri’s from the team’s original partnership group. Fuhrer was a tough-minded insurance executive and he mused frequently in the media about pulling the Triangles out of the league over various frustrations. He bickered publicly with Civic Arena officials about the availability of prime dates. And he had a short leash with his coaches. Two weeks after the Triangles won the 1975 championship, Fuhrer dismissed head coach Vic Edwards.

1976 Final Season & Demise

The Triangles third and final season was tumultuous. Goolagong was hobbled by tendinitis in her Achilles tendon. The team started slowly under player-coach Mark Cox, tabbed by Fuhrer to replace Vic Edwards. With a losing record in July,  Cox returned to player status. Fuhrer named the team’s 25-year old PR man-turned-General Manager Danny McGibbeny as the new coach. McGibbeny had never played a competitive game of tennis in his life. The Triangles responded with a 9-game winning streak and roared back into playoff contention. Then McGibbeny had to be hospitalized with blood clots. The Triangles’ team doctor took over as head coach. Pittsburgh made it back to the playoff semi-finals, finally losing to Billie Jean King and her eventual champion New York Sets club.

The Triangles played their final match at the Civic Arena in August 1975. Fuhrer folded the club four months later. In three seasons of play, the Triangles never fared worse than a trip to the playoff semi-finals.

Although Pittsburgh no longer had a team to call their own, World Team Tennis did return for one more summer at the Civic Arena in 1977. The Cleveland Nets franchise split their home schedule between the Civic Arena and the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio.

Pittsburgh Triangles Shop

WTT Wear

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World Team Tennis
Logo T-Shirt

World Team Tennis has been around in one form or another for nearly fifty years now, but this chill logo tee from our partners at Old School Shirts pays tribute to the original league and its mid-70’s glory days when Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase suited up for their WTT clubs in between Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.

Also available in women’s scoop neck and women’s racerback tank styles!

 

When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

“The Igloo” Pittsburgh Civic Arena T from Old School Shirts

In Memoriam

Dan McGibbeny, the Triangles’ young publicity director-turned-coach, died of lymphoma on September 6, 1977 at age 26.

Vic Edwards, the Triangles coach in their 1975 championship season, died of cancer on November 11, 1984. He was 75 years old.

Triangles star Vitas Gerulaitis (Tri’s ’74-’76) died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping at a friend’s home on September 17, 1994. He was only 40 years old. New York Times obituary.

British Davis Cup veteran Gerald Battrick, who played for the Triangles in 1974 and 1975, passed away on November 26, 1998 after battling a brain tumor. He was 51 years old.

Downloads

1974 Pittsburgh Triangles Roster & Bios

Links

“Love Triangles: Pittsburgh adored its World Team Tennis Franchise“, Rick Shrum, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 10, 2000

1974-1978 World Team Tennnis Media Guides

World Team Tennis Programs 1974-1978

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