Retired Duke professor's book reveals the charm of Durham Bulls baseball
The Triangle is a place where rivalries rule in a battle between NC State, North Carolina and Duke.
However, Triangle sports fans generally find consensus when cheering for the Durham Bulls.
The Bulls' fan base is diverse with all ages, backgrounds and levels of baseball knowledge.
It includes retired Duke University psychology and neuroscience professor Harris Cooper, who grew up near Yankee Stadium.
Cooper has been a lifelong baseball fan ever since.
“When you’re walking through the tunnel, and you walk out and see the field and the grass and you get a little bit of the smell, and you can say to yourself, ‘For the next three hours, I’m on vacation,’” Cooper said.
Cooper said he didn’t set out to write a book about the Durham Bulls. He was inspired when he spent a summer at Durham Bulls Athletic Park [DBAP] as a seating host.
On Feb. 6, Cooper published “Finding America in a Minor League Ballpark: A Season Hosting for the Durham Bulls.”
“The most frequently asked question is, ‘what's good to eat?’” Cooper said.
As a host, Cooper helped fans find seats and other stadium amenities, made sure everyone was safe, took pictures and chased kids from the aisles.
“One of the worst things you have to do is walk down and tell the kids to get out, but one of the best things you get to do is get to find lots of baseballs,” Cooper said. “And, you can find kids and families who you can hand in a baseball during the game, and they just light up.”
Cooper worked at the DBAP for an entire season on behalf of the Bulls, a total of 45 home games.
“What I would do is I would use my phone, and when something interesting happens in the stands, or in the game, I would plug in a keyword.”
“I took a place and I studied the people who are in it, and tried to glean from it, what makes people people?” Cooper said. “What's good about them, and what's not so good about them?
WRAL News asked Cooper what he learned.
“The ballplayers, the staff here and the vast majority of fans are just wonderful.”
Harris said he would have had the same experience for no money.
“Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball, obviously, have a lot in common,” Cooper said. “What's going on, on the field, but the experience in the stands is very different.”
Cooper said he thinks minor league games tend to be more relaxed.
“I saw parents who were here with kids, who were just weeks old swaddled against their dad,” Cooper said. “And, I saw a 90-plus-year-old who had come for his birthday party with his two 70-year-old sons.”
Cooper explained what he saw at the DBAP.
“It's Americana,” he said. “Yeah, it's America at its best.
“The minor leagues capture America because of the diversity of the people who come to see it … Because the intimacy of the ballparks, because the town people come out of a sense of civic pride. This is our team.”
Cooper will be signing his book on Wednesday at the DBAP.
The book is available for purchase at the Durham Bulls’ team store, on Amazon and some local bookstores.
