Durham Athletic Park

The popularity of the DAP for a eclectic variety of events shows how valuable a large space is to Durham. The ball games, Beer Festival, Blues Festival, etc. all contribute mightily to the Durham quality of life. I hope the new and improved DAP continues to be a venue for these events.

As an avid softball/baseball player, a highlight for me was the opportunity to play softball at the DAP for one season in the City league. Sitting in the dugouts, running the bases, and standing on the pitcher's mound were once in a lifetime experiences. I'll always remember playing on a field with such a rich history.

I wish the City softball league could have games there more often, but I know it will be hard given the field's popularity.

Final editorial note: If the DBAP was built with City tax dollars, how come it seems to be for the exclusive use of the Bulls? There are a few, minor events held there (like the recent Boy Scout campout). But why not at least play the the SDLL, NDLL, and City softball league championship games there? The players and their families would love it!

Gary -- Incredible post, and wonderful job here.

FWIW, though the Goodmon-Brier Creek story of the Bulls is often told, it's not to my understanding the only subtext. A group of Raleigh investors and business owners worked very hard trying to persuade Goodmon to move the team all the way to downtown Raleigh, where local boosters wanted to build a minor league/AAA-style park that could be expanded to major league size once Raleigh qualified for the big leagues.

A big part of these machinations was the approx. 30-mile rule that prevents teams from being located too close in proximity to each other. (Which is why the Mudcats are out in Zebulon, not closer in to Raleigh.)

According to my sources, Goodmon was very amenable to making the move to Raleigh -- until Durham leaders basically built the ballpark and gave him nearly-free use of it, at which point he reportedly said to the Raleigh boosters that basically it was too good a deal to pass up.

Which indeed it was.

One aspect of Durham's baseball story that I knew nothing about until recently was the presence of three different Negro Leagues teams at various points. To their credit, the Bulls do an annual "" REL="nofollow">Negro League night" where they invite former Durham players still living in the area to come sign autographs during a game.

I'd love it if the DAP were re-re-named "El Toro Field" or the like. It'd help with the current confusion between the names for the DAP and the DBAP, and it sounds cooler too, plus it ties in some history.

The thing that worries me: now that Jim Goodmon owns the Bulls, he can eventually do whatever he likes with them.

Michael

I'll embarrassedly note my ignorance on Durham's Negro League teams - completely uncovered in the ~10 sources I looked at for this post. I'll get up to speed and update.

GK

Great Post, I have been waiting for this one.

In your research did you find any pictures of the park in the final days? early 90s or late 80s? the filming of Bull Durham? I think it'd be cool to see it in production that fall.

Thanks for yet another great post

Long-time Durham resident, Artis Plummer, played for the Cleveland Buckeyes in the Negro League. He also played for the Durham Eagles, Cincinnati Crescent, Cleveland Buckeyes and the Atlanta Black Crackers.

Plummer told me that Major League baseball was integrated because the Negro League was beginning to outsell the White leagues. He mentioned a game between New York and San Francisco in NYC that brought in 25,000 fans. The next day, the NY Black Yankees played his team at the same field -- in front of 35,000 fans. (Plummer owns much of Marvin's Alley, the inspiration for John D. Loudermilk's song, "Tobacco Road.")

I've always understood that while the Durham "Tobacconists" were established in 1902, the "Durham Bulls" were not created until 1913. (Perhaps the Bulls organization wanted to sneak in a couple extra years to market their big centennial a little early.) :)

Baseball games took place on both sides of Broad Street. The Tobacconists, and later the Bulls, played at Hanes Field at Trinity College. Named after the underwear family, the location is now the field hockey field on East Campus. Trinity Prep School was just north of here in Bivins Hall (so the ball field could have been considered at the northern edge of campus at the time).

Baseball games were also played across the street at the ball field run by Erwin Mills (now the Whole Foods shopping center). Home plate was about where Mad Hatter's is today. Many Saturday night dates took place watching the mill team play, in the bleachers at Broad & West Main.

Sports were very popular community activities, and competition was fierce. Cotton mill companies were not above recruiting worker-players from other mills. According to his granddaughter, Erwin Mills even recruited Italian stonecutter, Giovanni Marzocchi, to play on their team -- after finishing his work on Duke Chapel.

Here's a photograph of an early Erwin Mills team... http://www.owdna.org/History/history3.htm

Durham history is full of connections. :)

This blog is 100% awesome, I read it every day now. Mr. Endagered Durham, this is great!

Terrific blog, Gary. Absolutely wonderful job!!! Kudos!!!! I miss the old DAP and the memories it brought back. Growing up in the 50's and early 60's, as kids we used to walk to the ballpark from our homes in the edgemont area and met kids from other places in town, Braggtown, Lakewood, Oak Grove, Lowes Grove and even Forest Hills. Seems there were more afternoon games back then, which was more enjoyable for us since that allowed us to be back home before dark, or at least 9PM. I went in the Air Force in 1963 and did not move back to Durham til 1991. Didn't fully understand what had happened to Durham until I ran up on this blog. Urban Renewal, didn't understand it, but you have made me more aware of what terrible waste of time, money, and resources, not counting the fact the loss of the culture of the city it managed to destroy. I eagerly anticipate the next new posting. I check back two and three times a day to see if anything new is up. Thanks again.

I made it to Durham in 1993, in time to catch the final season at the DAP, and then the Second Annual final season at the DAP in 1994, when construction of the new ballpark was delayed.

My kids, who were then 4 and 9, got to climb the stairs up behind the bull in right field on numerous occasions and flip the switch that made the bull's eyes light up, or the lever that worked his tail whenever the Bulls scored a run.

My personal favorite memory of the DAP was when the Colorado Silver bullets, a touring women's professional baseball team, came to town for a game against an All-Star team of local semi-pros. It took about 5 innings before the Bulls announcer acknowledged the overwhelming attendance that day, thanking all of the members of "the Triangle chapter of the K. D. Lang Fan Club" for coming out to the game.

There was also a story that appeared in Sports Illustrated at the time the DAP closed which, unfortunately, i can't find online anywhere. As i recall it though (and i can't remember the names of the players involved either) there was a pitcher on the Bulls in the 40s who, upon his death, had his ashes worked into the pitcher's mound. One of the pitchers on the Bulls roster in 1994 was his grandson, and the SI writer evoked the image, compelling if you're a baseball fan, and perhaps disturbing if you're not, of the young man digging his cleats into the clay around the mound, picking up clumps of dirt mixed with the remains of his grandfather.

I may have the hard copy in a box somewhere.

Beautiful blog, and what an outstanding post! I attended the Negro League Night at the DBAP earlier this month. It was a thrill to meet and get autographs from a dozen former Negro Leaguers who still reside in the Durham area. Most of them played for the Durham Rams, Colts, and/or Eagles. One of them commented to me that Durham's Negro League teams were indeed outdrawing the white teams in Durham. He said his team played at the DAP. He also said there was a historic integrated game (played at DAP?) between the Negro League team and I presume the Bulls. Attendance was overflowing and the game went off peacefully.

The other less honorable side of the story of the DAP that I just now remembered (and don't have a hard source for -- maybe John has one) was that the bleachers out in center field, that are sort of just across the street from the King's parking lot and were a beloved "cheap seat" section in the latter days of the DAP, were originally -- you guessed it -- the "negro" section of the ball park. The old entrance is said to have been off of Foster St. My best guess is that it was the walkway between the Tellard Supply building and the Brame (Cadillac) building, but it also might have been between Tellard and Nu Tread.

I don't know at what point the stands would have been integrated.

DCM, the history of the center field seats doesn't surprise me.

Duke football stadium also had a black section (in the cheap seats near the end zone; where visiting team fans now mostly sit).

Click here for a better view... http://www.dclibrary.net/prod1/ncc/schelp/js111.htm

Heh -- looks like I forgot to log out of the DCM Google account. That was me, for what it's worth.

I believe that the Carolina League was a class B league
when the Bulls were a Detroit Farm team.
I do not remember any seats being in center field in the
40s & 50s. Their were two sets of bleachers along the
right field line. The second set was the "colored section"
and had a seperate entrance behind them in right field.

Played football on field for Durham High. Also played on field for
Carr Jr. High.
In late 70s - early 80s football was also played on field by
local youth athletic associations.

The team of the late 60's, preceding the Triangles was the Phillies ( arm team of Philadelphia) -- not the Mets,. I'm a 100% certain of that since I went to some of those games, and remember a guy named Greg Luzenski who played here. UNC also played a season there in the early 70's while Boshamer Field was being upgraded. We use to hang out near the home dugout and make concession stand runs for the players prior to game starts. Tips were pretty good.