Bulls Trifecta for 2010

The 2009 season isn't over, but we're working hard on 2010.

Three BIG announcements:

The Bulls have extended their affiliation with the Tampa Bay Rays for four years. In Minor League baseball the contract that frames that relationship is called a Player Development Contract. Now, the agreement is in force through the 2014 season. I believe this has been a very good partnership. The Rays enabled our move up to Triple A ball in 1998. That was a milestone for the club, and the Rays more recent success (2008 AL Champs) has been icing on the cake. They are committed to winning in the Minors and the Majors, and we enjoy working with the front office...very progressive, strategic thinkers. (Baseball is over 160 years old; progressive thinking doesn't necessarily abound!)

To celebrate the PDC extension we announced that the 2010 season will begin with a Rays/Bulls exhibition game on Easter weekend. We haven't nailed down the date, but it will be Friday night April 2nd or Saturday afternoon April 3rd. It will be fantastic to see former Bulls like David Price, Evan Longoria, James Shields and Carl Crawford standing on the Durham field in their Rays' uniforms.

And last but not least, the Bulls will play a 2010 game in the newly renovated Durham Athletic Park.

On Monday evening May 10th the Bulls will take on the Toledo Mud Hens in the Bulls' former home - the DAP. This is nostalgia to the max for Bulls fans and the City of Durham! The two most famous MiLB teams will play in one of America's most historic ballparks. I'm thinking we'll set a DAP attendance record...even on a Monday night!?!

This game is a high profile opportunity for the Bulls to recognize Durham's investment in restoring the old ballpark. Also, it's an occasion for welcoming the offices of Minor League Baseball to Durham. MiLB manages the facility for Durham and plans to use it as a training center for umpires, turf managers and other operational aspects of the game. This is why I'm fond of saying Durham is the City of Medicine...AND BASEBALL!

Click here for Bulls' press release.

Click here for more on the DAP.

Tough Guys - very tough guys.

This is my favorite picture of the 2009 season: Bulls’ catcher Craig Albernaz and six year old Bo Baker. Craig’s cranium is buffed up to accommodate his protective headgear. Bo is another story.

In February doctors discovered a stage III tumor on Bo’s kidney. It cost him the kidney and six months of his childhood as he underwent regular chemo sessions at UNC.

Happy ending: Bo is cancer free and his last chemo appointment was Friday!


Bo was at the DBAP on Saturday, August 8th for “Strike Out Childhood Cancer Night” sponsored by Rock Against Cancer. Bo and other kids with cancer stood with players on the field for the National Anthem.

Bo - who wears a “Super Bo” cape to his chemo treatments - has been an inspiration. The same holds true for his parents, Amy and Rob. (Amy works for Capitol at Wolfpack Sports Marketing.) Amy has blogged regularly during their family’s ordeal. Paradoxically, as we have prayed for Bo, Amy has encouraged us with her uplifting family chronicle. Her faith shines through…on all of us!

Bulls in Baghdad

From the Green Zone...

We've got uniforms, helmets and bases...but we're just playing a game in Durham. It's quite the opposite in Iraq. Bulls' GM Mike Birling recently received this photo and note:

Dear Mr. Birling,

One of my section sergeants received a jersey from his father about a month ago. On a trip to Baghdad into the Green Zone, we stopped by and took a few photos by the Iraq-Iran War Memorial. SSG Mark Kingsley thought you all would love to know that the Bulls have fans all over the world. Hope you all like the pic.

Sincerely,

SFC Bradley C. Palmer

Platoon Leader

HHC 252 CAB 30 HBCT Scout Platoon

North Carolina National Guard

FOB Falcon, Iraq

...and Sergeant Palmer, please know that you and your fellow soldiers have fans in Durham, NC! The Durham Bulls honor your commitment, sacrifice and courage.

Bird's Eye View

...or is it a Bull's Eye View?

I have writer's block (blogger's block to be more precise) but a picture is worth a thousand words...so I offer up these great aerial views of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Our next home stand is 8/14-21, and we open against the Yankees' Triple A affiliate. Click for tix. We're runnin' out of summer...only 15 games left on the schedule!

!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!

I stick to baseball related stuff on this blog, but Capitol made a major announcement Monday. We are adding to our sports portfolio...acquiring more sports talk programming and radio stations...even a Spanish language sports station.

Click here for...

- our news release

- a story from wral.com

- a previous blog on the significance of the Triangle sports market

Just Another Night at the DBAP. NOT!

Better than 8,500 attended the Dylan-Nelson-Mellencamp concert Tuesday night. Thankfully, we dodged the storms that hit Raleigh, Cary, Apex, etc...and it turned out to me a magical night for Boomer Nation. I'm too uptight to dance, but it's uplifting to see 50-somethings let loose!

It must be bittersweet for artists on these nostalgia tours. The fans are longing to relive their glory days, but the performer - not stuck in time - might have something new to share. Mellencamp asked the audience if they wanted to hear his old songs or new music. The answer was overwhelmingly in favor of the old stuff. It seems like the music of our youth is burned into our memories and hearts. It must have something to do with a mysterious interaction of hormones, beer and romance!?!

Click here for the Durham Herald-Sun's report.

Or check out the Raleigh News & Observer's blog.

Punch this link for a slide show from wral.com.

Photos: Mellencamp (Brian Flemming), Nelson (wral.com), crowd shot (Lea Johnson)

Pix of Dylan were forbidden. I suppose that's a good way to maintain one's status as a legend. If you have any camera phone shots, send 'em along!

...back to reality: Bulls return to the DBAP Saturday. Come see us!

Fear the Monster!

The News & Observer ran a great story on Jon Weber and our Blue Monster outfield wall in Sunday's edition.

Also, there's a learned sidebar on the coefficient of restitution, ie, the physics of playing the ball as it bounces off the Monster.

N&O writer Luke DeCock serves up this back-handed compliment: Left field at the DBAP is as cramped as a New York apartment: shoehorned into an awkward space with no concern for symmetry or feng shui. It's possible our architect would take exception, but hey, it's part of the DBAP's personality.

Good stuff! Check it out...

And check out the Blue Monster - in person! Click for tix.

On Walter Cronkite

Allow me to stray from my standard fare - Bulls' news and promotion - for these thoughts on Walter Cronkite’s passing. His funeral service is today in Manhattan. He was a hero.

Consider my career path - the abbreviated version: At present, I am the “sports guy” at Capitol. Prior to that I was the “news and sports guy” for twenty years…and before that I was simply “the news guy."

I majored in broadcast journalism and labored as a radio reporter/news director at two CBS affiliated stations in Virginia. Historically, that time frame encompassed Watergate, the US withdrawal from Viet Nam (putting it delicately) and Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter.

I was wet behind the ears, but Walter was in his prime. Network television news was in its prime, too. Walter had a hand in creating it, and remarkably, in that mix of big business, show biz and journalism, he was “the most trusted man in America.”

What an accolade! He wasn’t renowned for his creativity…or his performance skills…or his good looks. Rather, he was known for his integrity. What an achievement! Is integrity an aspirational character trait these days? (Sorry, the curmudgeon alarm just went off.)

I dusted off my copy of Cronkite’s 1996 memoir, A Reporter’s Life. Cronkite humorously notes that people would approach him in retirement with “Didn’t you used to be Walter Cronkite?” But let this truth be his last word: "The free press is the central nervous system of a democratic society."

Walter Cronkite shaped TV news. He was the industry standard bearer. Yet he wore his fame with great humility, and he retired with grace. He was serious about his work, but didn’t take himself too seriously. A significant life. A very good man.

This is in my office; a Capitol milestone: Clayton Henkel of the North Carolina News Network with “Uncle Walter” at a Radio-Television News Directors Assn convention in New Orleans. The NCNN received an Edward R. Murrow award for coverage of Hurricane Fran. Walter confined this photo op to his people - the reporters. (Management was kept at a safe distance.)

Memorabilia; The CBS Eye: I pilfered this sign (pointing to the CBS hospitality suite, of course) at a National Assn of Broadcasters convention in DC. College prank. (Wasn't I just extolling integrity? My bad.)