The Durham Bulls, made famous by the movie Bull Durham and Kevin Costner (who seems to have been in every baseball movie with the exception of The Natural and The Sandlot), play their games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, better known as the “D-Bap”, located in downtown Durham. This place feels like a Major League Park, which was probably one of the reasons that we weren’t allowed to fundraise inside the stadium today. Everywhere you look there are Bull logos plastered, including the most infamous—“Hit Bull, Win Steak” sign. Just two weeks ago 50 MPH winds ripped off the bull’s head, but luckily the bull was fixed up and back to its old self in a few days. We also found some new activities inside the park which we haven’t come across yet—a rock-climbing wall down behind right field (2 climbs for $5), and a putting green contest (3 putts for $1.) Or if you wanted to keep it baseball related, you could try the standard speed pitch.

Interesting facts about the Durham Bulls:

The Blue Monster. Fenway Park and the Greenville Drive might have the Green Monster, but Durham has the Blue Monster in left field. The bull sign mentioned above sits atop of the Blue Monster.

The mascot. “Wool E. Bully” is named after the novelty song oldie, “Wooly Bully”. The “E” in his name supposedly stands for “education.” I think it actually stands for “Edward.”

Lucky, the park’s dog, is a special trained dog that can understand up to over 50 verbal commands and cues and has been taught to recognize and respond to 10 different hand signals and whistle commands. We saw it run the bases and then catch a tennis ball in its mouth.

In 1932, Durham began its first major league affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies and since then has been affiliated with 10 different teams. They are currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The game itself was a nail-biter. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Bulls rallied to come from behind and take the game 2-1 from the Charlotte Knights. It was quite thrilling.