Durham Bulls is named after Bull Durham's tobacco advertising icon. After the Civil War, John Green tried to create a new tobacco brand and was influenced by the advertising campaign of a mustard company in Durham, England. The Bulls present their new mascot, Wool E. In a local contest, Jim Vickery, from Durham, chooses the winning nickname among more than 500 participants.
Over the years, the Durham Bulls have been affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds (1936-40), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1941-4), the Detroit Tigers (1948-6), the Houston Astros National League expansion team (1962-6), the other National League expansion team, the New York Mets (1967-6) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1969-7). The Bulls' longest relationship (to date) was with the Atlanta Braves, which began in 1980 and ended in 1996, when the Bulls won a Triple-A franchise with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for an International League team. In an era of Sod Poodles and Rumble Ponies, Trash Pandas and Vibes, the Durham Bulls have in the past sought an alternative identity and created a name as appropriate (and unexpected) as any other in Minor League Baseball. On April 13, the Triple-A subsidiary of the Rays took place.
In an era of Sod Poodles and Rumble Ponies, Trash Pandas and Vibes, the Durham Bulls looked in the past for an alternative identity and came up with a name as appropriate (and unexpected) as any other in Minor League Baseball. On April 13, the Rays' Triple-A subsidiary took the field as Durham Tobacconists for the first time. They will do it again on August 1st and 13th. Over the next 67 seasons, the team would play in three different stadiums and undergo eight major league membership changes to establish a long-term partnership with the Atlanta Braves before the 1980 season.
Then, in 1988, the movie “Bull Durham” put Minor League Baseball and the Bulls on the national stage, as the fictional comedy starring Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins became a hit with both die-hard and casual baseball fans. Durham won its 15th division title in 23 years in the Triple-A category after a 6-2 win over the Charlotte Knights in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1995, the franchise moved to Durham Bulls Athletic Park, a new stadium located a few blocks south of historic Durham Athletic Park, which the Bulls had called home since 1926. Kevin Costner and his band Modern West play at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to celebrate Bull Durham's 20th anniversary. In December 1912, the Durham Tobacconists reformed as the Durham Bulls in the North Carolina State League.
Goodmon announces plans to move the Durham Bulls to Triangle Central Park, a sports complex he imagines in eastern Durham County, close to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Durham has been a city dedicated to baseball since 1902, when the Durham Bulls first took the field at George Lyon Ball Park as members of the North Carolina State Professional Baseball League. Capitol President Jim Goodmon initially proposed building the new stadium near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, but after Durham city leaders offered to renovate the old stadium or help build a new stadium, the current site in downtown Durham was secured. Hall of Famer Joe Morgan returns to Durham to retire his number at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The team also retained the bull sign that was used at Bull Durham and remained at Durham Athletic Park until both the team and the sign left after the 1994 season. With a spot on the line for the ACC Baseball Championship, North Carolina beat NC State 2-1 in front of 11,392 spectators at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the most crowd to have seen a college baseball game in the state. The following year, the city of Durham purchased El Toro Park and renamed it Durham Athletic Park after the 1933 season. Miles Wolff meets with Durham officials to discuss building a stadium with a capacity of between 10,000 and 12,000 seats to win a triple-A class baseball franchise for Durham.
