Last night I went with a couple friends to see the Durham Bulls play the Toledo Mudhens. For some reason it felt like a very classic minor league match-up. Still, my feeling deserved a bit of research:
I know my local team, the Bulls, were established in 1902 but I had to check on the Mudhens. The only thing close to a club history I could find on their web page was in regards to what a mudhen is. It claims the club earned the name in 1896 because of its proximity to some marshlands where the birds gathered. They even have mudhen calls to listen to. Still, that doesn't actually tell me when the club was started but it does certify that the two baseball teams are indeed classic ball clubs.
For what its worth, the Durham Bulls earned their name from a brand of cigarettes whose signs had a bull with very large and visible testicles that a) caused a great stir in the early-1900s South b) sold more smokes than brands without testicles. However, when the team was formed they were known as the "Durham Tobacconists" and only got the name "Bulls" after about a 10 year absence in 1912. My favorite part of the club history is that they used to have a mascot that was an actual bull. Once in 1926 the then commissioner of baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, rode the bull before a game. Today, Bud Selig would probably cower in a corner crying if the current mascot (read:dude in a bull suit) looked at him the wrong way. Oh, one note: the snorting bull on top of the very high left field wall was a prop put up for the movie "Bull Durham". Although it is still there, it is not actually some old traditional relic. Sorry.
The Bulls won last night in a 9th inning come-from-behind classic. I had a seat in front of third base - three rows back. It was 60°F.
Perfect. Classic.
Posted by dmason at April 10, 2005 08:35 PM