Durham Bulls baseball: A history of the team, the DBAP and minor league ball in Durham
Posted April 1, 2023 6:00 a.m. EDT
Updated July 10, 2023 3:58 p.m. EDT
Durham, N.C. — First pitch for the Durham Bulls’ 2023 season is set for Friday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Here’s a look at what to expect from the back-to-back Triple-A National Champion ahead of the upcoming season.
What’s new this year?
Quality food and tasty, cold beverages are necessities when at the DBAP. It includes 100% all-beef hot dogs this year, salted pretzels and bone-in chicken wings. A new menu item will be the twister fries with sausage, queso and peppers.
The team even has a concessions map if you’re not quite sure what to eat or drink.
Looking to get to the DBAP? Click or tap here for Durham Bulls tickets
2023 DBAP Concessions Map: Click or tap
Here’s a look at the promotional nights held throughout the spring and summer.
On the diamond, Michael Johns joins the Bulls as manager. He succeeds Brady Williams, who was elevated to the role of Tampa Bay Rays third base coach after three seasons as the Bulls’ manager.
Durham Bulls players to watch during the 2023 season
The Bulls have four of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects:
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20th: Right-handed pitcher Taj Bradley
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33rd: Infielder Curtis Mead
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72nd: Shortstop Carson Williams
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73rd: First baseman Kyle Manzardo
Bradley, Mead and Manzardo could make their Major League debuts this season.
Williams is only 19 years old. Last season, he hit 19 home runs and had 28 stolen bases in 113 games in Single-A Charleston. He also won the 2022 Minor League Gold Glove, earning recognition as the best defensive shortstop in the minors last season.
The Bulls have had hundreds of players play in the majors.
Durham Bulls’ team history
The Durham Bulls have served as the Tampa Bay Rays’ Triple-A affiliate since 1998. Here’s a look at the previous team affiliations:
- Atlanta Braves: 1980-1997
- Unaffiliated: 1970-1971
- Philadelphia Phillies: 1969
- New York Mets: 1967-1968
- Houston Colt .45s/Astros 1962-1966
- Detroit Tigers: 1948-1961
- Unaffiliated: 1947
- Boston Red Sox: 1945-1946
- Brooklyn Dodgers: 1941-1943
- Cincinnati Reds: 1936-1940
- New York Yankees: 1933
- Philadelphia Phillies 1932
- Unaffiliated: 1902, 1913-1917, 1920-1931
The Bulls have won four class titles: 2009, 2017, 2021 and 2022. They’ve also won 17 league titles and 23 division titles.
The team has also undergone several names in its history, including:
- Durham Bulls: 1980-present
- Raleigh-Durham Triangles: 1970-1971
- Raleigh-Durham Phillies: 1969
- Raleigh-Durham Mets 1968
- Durham Bulls: 1913-1917, 1920-1933, 1936-1946, 1945-1967
- Durham Tobacconists: 1902
The North Carolina league was formed on March 18, 1902, at a meeting in Raleigh. Mr. W. G. Bramham was the owner of the team.
On April 24, 1902, the Durham Tobacconists took the field for the first time in an exhibition game against Trinity College. Durham won the game, 8-5.
On May 5, 1902, the Tobacconists played their first official regular season game in Charlotte. The Bulls lost to Charlotte, 12-2.
May 12, 1902, marked Durham’s first home game.
On July 12, 1902, Bramham refused to send his team to play at New Bern, stating that as far as he was concerned, the league was at an end. Professional baseball didn’t return to Durham until 1913.
The Bulls joined the North Carolina State League on Dec. 12, 1912. The league folded on May 30, 1917, due to the start of World War I.
History of the DBAP
Each game, the DBAP holds 10,000 fans. During the 2022 season, the DBAP hosted more than 472,000 fans.
The DBAP opened on April 6, 1995, for its inaugural season in front of 10,886 fans. The ballpark was built with a capacity to Carolina League standards. However, the land that the DBAP was built on had more room in case the ballpark needed to expand for Triple-A baseball.
In 1998, triple-A baseball came to Durham. The Bulls moved up from High-A to Triple-A, with the DBAP expanded to Triple-A standards.
Before the DBAP’s opening, the Bulls played from 1926-1994 at Durham Athletic Park (DAP) at 428 Morris St.
In 1968, Durham merged with Raleigh to form the Raleigh-Durham Mets. The team played half its games in DAP and half at Raleigh's Devereaux Meadow.
Devereaux Meadow served as the team’s partial home until 1971.
The DAP has a capacity of 5,000 fans. Known as El Toro Park from 1926-1933, the DAP currently home to the North Carolina Central Eagles baseball team.
On July 7, 1926, the Bulls played their first game at El Toro Park. Later that summer, North Carolina Gov. Angus McLean and Commissioner of Baseball Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis presided over ceremonies to dedicate El Toro Park. Landis stole the show by mounting the Bulls' mascot, a real bull, and riding it on the field. Durham loses to Raleigh, 3-2.
In 1932, Durham began its first major league affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies.
From 1913 until early summer 1926, the Bulls played their games in what’s now known as Doherty Park. Before that, the Bulls played at Haines Field, which is now called Williams Field.
Williams Field is still used for field hockey on Duke’s east campus.
The DAP and DBAP in movies
The 1988 movie “Bull Durham” featuring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon was filmed at the DAP. The movie is partly based on the minor-league baseball experiences of writer and director Ron Shelton. It depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls.
The Bulls' second appearance in movies was in “The Rookie,” released in 2002 starring Dennis Quaid as Jim Morris, a real-life baseball pitcher who is now retired.
The actual Jim Morris played for the Bulls briefly during the 1999 season and was then called up to the major leagues on Sept. 18, 1999, at the age of 35. He made his debut against Royce Clayton of the Texas Rangers, striking him out on four pitches. Morris made four more appearances later that year.
The 2001 season saw the Bulls set single-game (10,916 on July 23) and full-season (505,319 set on Sept. 1) attendance records. The Bulls celebrated their 100th anniversary season in 2002.
The Blue Monster and the Snorting Bull
The DBAP’s left-field fence resembles Fenway Park’s Green Monster in Boston. The Blue Monster is 32-feet high and 305 feet from home plate.
The snorting bull sign atop the Blue Monster has had several iterations. The mechanical snorting bull was brought to life in “Bull Durham.”
Mascot Wool E. Bull makes debut in 1992
On July 17, 1992, the Bulls' unveiled their new mascot, Wool E. Bull.
In a contest, Jim Vickery of Durham submitted the winning moniker chosen from a pool of more than 500 entries.
The "E" in Wool E. Bull stands for "Education."
Today, the Taurus Educatis (Smart Bull) is seen throughout the DBAP wearing 00 hugging, high-fiving and firing up fans.
Wool E. Bull is listed at 6’6” and has a listed weight of 409 pounds.
Capitol Broadcasting Co. buys the Durham Bulls
Former Bulls owner Miles Wolff granted former Capitol Broadcasting Co. President Jim Goodmon an option to buy the team on May 9, 1990. CBC officially bought the team in 1991.
After a playoff game on Sept. 6. 2007, the playing surface was named Goodmon Field, in honor of Jim Goodmon, owner of the Durham Bulls and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting.
Famous baseball players who have played for and against the Durham Bulls
On June 17, 1993, the Bulls retired the late Hall of Famer Joe Morgan’s No. 18 jersey. It is the first number retired in Bulls History.
Baseball Reference shows Morgan played for the Bulls in 1963 when he was 19 years old. In 95 games for the Bulls that season, Morgan had 13 home runs, 43 RBI, 74 runs scored, 107 hits, seven stolen bases and 91 walks.
Morgan would go on to play for the Modesto Colts in 1963 before making his MLB debut for the Houston Colt .45s, who are now known as the Houston Astros.
In August 2013, the Bulls also retired eight-time MLB All-Star Chipper Jones’ No. 10 jersey. In 70 games for the Bulls during the 1992 season, Jones had 4 home runs, 31 RBI, 43 runs scored, 73 hits, 10 stolen bases and 31 walks.
Other notable Bulls players include Bob Boone, Steve Avery, Andruw Jones, Evan Longoria, David Price, Wander Franco and Lawrence “Crash” Davis.
