Former Carolina League Teams - Durham Bulls (Paperback)

Chapters: Durham Bulls. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 43. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Durham Bulls are a minor league baseball team based in Durham, North Carolina. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays major-league club. The Bulls play in Durham Bulls Athletic Park, often called the "DBAP" or "D-Bap," located in downtown Durham. The team became internationally famous in 1988 following the release of the movie Bull Durham, which starred Kevin Costner as a veteran catcher, Tim Robbins as a talented young pitcher, and Susan Sarandon as their love interest. The Bulls have also been featured in the film The Rookie. At the time of Bull Durham, both the real Bulls and their movie counterparts played in the high-A Carolina League, two steps below the current team's position in the Triple-A International League. The Carolina League team relocated and became the Danville 97s in 1998, when the Triple-A leagues expanded by two teams to accommodate affiliates for the major league expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks with the Rays' expansion team becoming the new Durham Bulls franchise. Through twelve seasons in Triple-A, they have already won three Governors' Cups. In 2009, the Bulls won their first Triple-A National Championship. The first Durham professional baseball franchise officially formed as the Durham Tobacconists on March 18, 1902, with W. G. Bramham, later President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (Minor League Baseball), as the owner. They took the field for the first time on April 24 in an exhibition game against Trinity College. Their first game in the North Carolina League was at Charlotte on May 5 against the Hornets, and their first home game was against the...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=67115