Ballpark Photos – Durham, North Carolina
Durham Athletic Park – Durham, North Carolina
The Durham Bulls played here until 1994. Bull Durham (1988) was filmed here. At the time of these photos, 1998, the facility was in use by a women’s softball team.
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The beer concession stand, still festooned in Durham Bull orange and blue. |
Not exactly a “box” office. |
Durham Bulls Athletic Park – Durham, North Carolina
The Carolina League franchise moved into this modern park in 1995. There’s plenty of free parking to the west on Willard Street. In 1998, ownership was granted membership in the AAA International League, becoming the top affiliate of the expansion Devil Rays. The difference between the names of the old and new parks is the addition of the word “Bulls.” There must be Bulls here. Let us count the Bulls.
Above: A Bull at each end of every row of seats, and another demonstrating the perils of not watching for foul balls. Right: A Bull you can step inside to clock yourself. A big drag on a Lucky might add a little extra mph on your fastball. |
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Above: The Original Snorting Bull, created for the motion picture and subsequently donated to the old park. It stood beyond the outfield fence, flashing, roaring, and exhaling in celebration of each Bull homer. Defanged now, it adorns the main concourse of the new park. Right: The New Bull sits, silent and immobile, atop the leftfield fence, 305 feet from home plate. A skilled practioner of the fungo bat can precisely control his own cholesterol level throughout the season. |
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Finally, tossing the ball, each with a Bull on the bill of his cap, are the Bulls we came to see. |
Well, that certainly is a lot of Bulls.
But what does it look like right now
The secret of life is keeping a neat scorecard
| Player | Team (organization) | Seen here | Big league debut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jorge Cantu | Durham (Devil Rays) | 4/19/2004 | 7/17/2004 |
| Tim Corcoran | Durham (Devil Rays) | 4/19/2004 | 6/14/2005 |
| Bartolome Fortunato | Durham (Devil Rays) | 4/19/2004 | 6/29/2004 |
| Royce Ring | Norfolk (Mets) | 4/24/2005 | 4/29/2005 |
| Kerry Robinson | Durham (Devil Rays) | 8/2/1998 | 9/22/1998 |
| Chris Singleton | Columbus (Yankees) | 8/2/1998 | 4/10/1999 (White Sox) |
| Jay Tessmer | Columbus (Yankees) | 8/2/1998 | 8/27/1998 |
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