Bull City Summer Reviewed

Bull City Summer is here. I have a copy on my coffee table. I’ve read it once and gone through the photos a lot more times than once.

(Actually I am not absolutely certain it’s on the shelves of any bookstores or at the DBAP store yet, if anyone knows, jump in. I got mine through pre-order. It may be in the Durham Bulls store or at Quail Ridge Books. Add other locations in the comments, please.)

I am having trouble trying to figure out who my audience for this review is, or should be. Should I take off my Durham Bulls hat and try to find my book reviewer hat? The one not worn with any seriousness since the late 1970’s. Or should I take another angle, such as trying to write something with a couple of good “pulls” for the BCS folks, but also reach out to the typical readership of WDBB? That’s what I think I’ll try to do.

"Bull City Summer" was/is a deeply serious effort to bring artists — particularly photographers and writers — into a ballpark just to see what might happen. The book is just one expression of what they did in 2013. There’s more. They had a blog that gave us hints and substantive work through the year of what they were up to. The North Carolina Museum of Art has had an exhibit of many of the photographs. The Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh is currently hosting an exhibit. And I think that there is, or will be, exhibits on the American Tobacco Campus. Many of these photos are even more stunning in larger formats. Take a trip downtown.

This is an important book that should to be judged on its artistic merits. It succeeds on many levels. You don’t need to know much, or hardly anything, about baseball to be struck by any number of the images here. On a personal level I was particularly touched by Hiroshi Watanabe’s Zero (p. 117) and his Baseball (p. 106), Alex Harris’ pensive Outside the Ballpark #3, all of Jeff Whetstone’s brilliant interpretations of a collection of scoresheets, Leah Sobsey’s tintype of Shelley Duncan and his sons (p. 125), and by several of Frank Hunter’s stormy night shots. But the next time through I’d pick other photographs I am sure.

My point is that, like much good art, we didn’t know we needed it until it was given to us. Now we know and we are very happy about to have it in our hands.

Do I need to say again that you don’t need to be a baseball fan to appreciate these images?

The writing? We are fortunate to have two books written about Triple A baseball this year: John Feinstein’s Nobody Knows Your Name (reviewed here) and now Bull City Summer. Interesting for a Durham Bulls fan that Feinstein, who was writing about the 2012 season also spent some time in Durham with the Bulls. But I have to say that the BCS guys took on the task of trying to reach a wider audience than just baseball fans. You will have to judge if they succeeded. I think they did, magnificently.

Adam Sobsey takes on the bulk of the writing tasks and does more than a fine job at trying to capture not just baseball, our peculiar sub-species, Triple A baseball. His essay, “Orphan,” captures the very human interaction of talent and the business of baseball. I commend it to anyone who wants to get a handle not just on one of the finest Triple A ballplayers of recent years, but also on how very different Triple A baseball is.

Sobsey is not alone. To mention just a couple, there’s a fine piece by Michael Croley that shows us a bit about how hitter Shelley Duncan approaches his craft. Sam Stephenson takes on telling us about the Bulls manager, Charlie Montoyo.

Probably the greatest challenge of all in creating this book was editing the thousands of words at hand from the blog and choosing from certainly a vast quantity of photographs. As someone who followed the Bull City Summer blog I regret that a photo by Alex Harris did not make the cut (so I’ll just stick it in here and suggest that folks check out the blog, some interesting stuff there). As a baseball fan, I think it's too bad that Adam Sobsey’s two-part interview with catcher Chris Gimenez and pitcher J.D. Martin (here and here) didn’t make the cut. Together those are as nice as you will find on the craft of pitching baseball. My point is that the editorial challenge must have been tough. Judging by the final product, they did just fine.

The book is well-produced with a close attention to detail. I have not noticed any color or registration issues, and the paper and binding seem of as high a quality as you can expect for the price.

I have a few quibbles (gotta have a quibble, otherwise you won't know I actually read the book). The introductory blurb: “In 2013, a team ... to document the 72-game season….” is incorrect. The season is 144 games — 72 homes games, though. In my opinion the photo of Wil Myers (p.44) by Alec Soth is awkwardly posed and a bit deceptive (he never played in left field). But those are quibbles. I wouldn’t have noticed them if I had not been enthralled by the book as a whole.

Bottom line: Any Bulls fan absolutely needs to have this book on her/his coffee table. If any photography enthusiasts read this blog, take a look at Bull City Summer and see what happens when artists take cameras to a ballpark and just look around. Triangle residents? You need it too. You’ve been to the DBAP. Take home a serious memory. Everyone else — if you’re reading this blog, you, too, probably should have this book.

Alex Harris, from Bull City Summer blog

Bull City Summer Exhibit Opens

As we’ve mentioned here a couple times, Bull City Summer was a project to capture a season at the DBAP and now they are beginning to show off their work beyond the world-wide web.

I've put a couple of their images up over the last few months, but I'm not going to do that this time. You'll have to go see for yourself.

We visited the exhibit today (Feb 23) and here are some thoughts: some trivial (what else would you expect from WDBB?), some that we hope will pique your interest enough to go take a look.

You don’t have to be a Durham Bulls fan or a fan of baseball to have a enriching experience. This show is simply solid artistry worthy of your time and attention.

Furthermore, even if you were a regular follower of Bull City Summer on the web, I’m here to tell you that the deficiencies of the web to convey visual/emotional information are made clear. You simply cannot match the impact of seeing these images in person by staring at a computer screen. Go see what the artist intended.

Nor should you wait for the book. It will be impossible for a book to do justice to most of these photographs. In fact, an argument can be made that book format simply isn’t the right way to present some of these works. And besides, if you live in the Triangle, it’s convenient and free. What a deal!

Some of the photos are simply stunning and go far beyond baseball in their emotional impact. In fact, although it might help that you’ve been to a baseball game or two in your life to appreciate the scenes, it probably is not necessary. These are deeply thoughtful images of an aspect of summer in Durham, North Carolina, surely the artists’ intention.

As for the trivial: the NC Museum of Art has two buildings the “East” and the “West” or, for folks who’ve been around for a while, the Old (East) and the New (West). The Bull City Summer show is in the East building (signs point the way once you get out of the parking lot). Once in the building, ask for directions. Photos are arranged by artist and take up a couple of galleries.

Bull's Revenge

Season: 44-26; Home Stand: 3-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The important question at hand last night, the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the movie “Bull Durham”, was not who was going to win the baseball game, but whether or not “Nuke” was ever going to win a race against either “Crash” or “Annie”. And so when the moment came and Nuke came out and simply blew ahead of Crash and Annie we thought, “OK, smart move, let Nuke win one. He’s gonna go to the show after all.” But, in a move of minor genius on the part of the Bulls staff, the bull from the original Bull Durham (or a close approximation) came out and took revenge for being hit by Nuke all those years ago. He body-blocked Nuke. Nuke went down as Crash and Annie skipped by. Crash won last night.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the most important event last night. For a Bulls fan, the biggest deal was probably the Bulls taking 3 of 4 games from the Indianapolis Indians, the team with the best record in the International League. It helps to be well out in front in the South Division as the Bulls approach mid-season (that would be tomorrow!). Of course, by September both teams will be very different, but the Bulls can hope that J.D. Martin will still be around. (Note: J. D. just name IL Pitcher of the Week!) And if he is, along with some of his colleagues from last night, players like Leslie Anderson, Vince Belnome, and Brandon Guyer, things look good for the playoffs.

For thrills, maybe the biggest deal was that spectacular behind-the-back catch in center field by Jason Bourgeois in the 5th inning. One of those moments you hope to see when you come to a game.

Certainly the oddity of the night was Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor getting ejected before the game even started, just after presenting his lineup card to the umps. Guessing was that Trainor was still upset about a call that ended the game on Saturday. Have to say that even for a boy’s game like baseball that seems a bit petulant on Treanor’s part.

A close second as far as oddities go would be the decision by the radio station that broadcasts Bulls games to instead broadcast the U.S. Open golf tournament. Now, who in the world listens to golf on the radio? Especially within the rather limited radius of “AM 620 The Buzz!”

The scary moment of the game came when Vince Belnome appeared to have twisted his ankle on a play at 1B in the 5th inning. At that moment there was, by my count, exactly one player on the bench, catcher Craig Albernaz. Now Albernaz is one heck of a ballplayer, but I’m guessing that at 5’8" he doesn’t have a lot of playing time at 1B.

Another highlight for Bulls fans was seeing Chris Gimenez back in catching gear and on the field for the first time in what seems like a very long time. Welcome back, Chris!

A confusing moment in the 3rd inning was the shuffle of Brandon Guyer from left to right field, Leslie Anderson from 1B to left field, and Belnome coming in from his off day to play 1B. Then the twitterverse blew up with the story, the call-up of Wil Myers. We’ve had a lot of fun watching Mr. Myers this year. He has one of the most interesting swings that I’ve ever seen and the sound off his bat is unique. I’m betting he will do just fine with the Rays. And what better place to begin his career than Fenway? Good luck, Wil.

Outside the game —

• In the 32nd transaction involving a pitcher this year, Josh Lueke has been called back up to the Rays. At a guess there are two more Bulls pitchers ”on the bubble“ to join the Rays today — Jake Odorizzi (did he even make it back? Guess not. He's reportedly starting today in Fenway.) and Alex Colome. We’ll see. But it does explain why Kirby Yates had back-to-back saves over the last two games. Good for Kirby!
• Infielder Ryan Roberts has been optioned down from Tampa Bay to make room on the 25 man for Myers. Roberts hasn’t been in the minors since 2010. The 32 year old usually played 2B for the Rays, but had a few games at 3B and 1B. At $3 million, I’m guessing he will be the highest-paid Durham Bull by a few bucks.
• Lastly, yesterday was Father’s Day and I want to point you over to this amazing unattributed [Update: by Alex Harris, see comments] image at Bull City Summer. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. In fact, if I’m not breaking any copyright I think I’ll just put it up. I’ll take it down if there’s a problem.

Photo by Alex Harris: From Bull City Summer

Bashing

Game 51, May 27	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays)	0	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	0	7	7	0
Durham Bulls (Rays)	9	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	x	11	11	0

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Wil Myers had an extraordinary 1st inning; Blue Jays reconstruction project Ricky Romero did not. Myers came to bat twice in the inning, hitting a 2-run homer the first time and the bases were loaded for his second at bat, against Romero’s replacement Chad Beck, he hit a double. That’s 5 RBI in one inning. Romero, on the other hand, was charged with 8 earned runs in his ⅔ of an inning and left the game with an ERA of 13.85.

It was a big day for the Bulls: 11 hits, 4 doubles, 1 homer. And yet the Bisons came back in the 5th inning (was Alex Torres left in too long?) with 5 runs and they look to be a very strong team. This is going to be a fun series.

Outside the game —

• Broadcaster Patrick Kinas reported that Chris Gimenez is going to be out for some time, but apparently isn’t going on the DL.
• With the win, and Norfolk's loss (their fifth in a row), the Bulls moved into a tie for first place in the IL South.
• Over at Bull City Summer, Adam Sobsey provides an assessment of this year’s team.
• Also at Bull City Summer, Emma Miller profiles Bulls’ MC Jatovi McDuffie.

Matchup

I didn’t get my matchup done before the start of this series, so here it is updated to last night’s game. Obviously, the Bisons are a really hard-hitting team, but they’ve got some problems with their pitching. We saw that last night also.

May 28, 2013	W-L	RS	RA	Diff	BA	OPS	ERA
Buffalo	28-21	265	263	2	.280	.813	5.12
Durham	31-20	276	213	63	.277	.760	3.89

Last Minute Loss

Season: 82-51
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

Given Kirby Yates' performance this year, it was entirely understandable that Charlie Montoyo would go to him in the 9th instead of sticking with Brandon Gomes. Unfortunately, the result was a rare blown save and a loss for Yates and the Bulls.

On the other hand, you’ve got to think that Norfolk is going to be much hungrier than the Bulls for these four games (and the three at the end of the season). As we’ve been showing in other posts, the Tides are in the hunt for the wild card. Even though they need for Rochester and Pawtucket to both lose some games, the only way they are going to make it to the playoffs is by beating the Bulls — a lot. They will play Durham six out of their last eleven games. We’ll see.

Outside the game —

• Delmon Young was not exactly a beloved figure back in 2006 when he was in a Bulls uniform (when not throwing bats at umpires). He is back in the Rays system, but currently assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits. Stacy Long has some solid reportage here. We weren’t doing this blog back in 2006, but we recall him as a talented young man as part of a poorly led team. That was the year between the Bill Evers era and the beginning of the Charlie Montoyo era. And it was after Montoyo's arrival that I realized how critically important a good manager is to the development of young ball players and building a good minor league team. Not sure that idea had quite sunk in system-wide with the then Devil Rays.
• Over at Bull City Summer Mike Croley has two very insightful pieces on Shelley Duncan. If you want to get some idea of what goes on in a hitter’s head, really worth reading. One of the articles (this one) has a couple of those spooky photos that Leah Sobsey and Tim Telkamp have been taking/making this year. The other (this one) gets into just what could happen in one at bat.
• Also at Bull City Summer, Adam Sobsey got a terrific quote from Chipper Jones about AAA baseball (Note: Jones is talking about his time in Richmond, then the AAA team of the Braves, not the Durham Bulls). 
• Lastly, here’s the anonymously-written DNA of Sports which had an interesting profile of outfielder Kevin Kiermaier from a few days ago.

The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Hitters — Part 1

Only 19 different ballplayers came to bat in a Durham Bulls uniform this year. Some quite a few times (Vince Belnome and Cole Figueroa at 533 plate appearances each), one (Luke Scott at 14) very few times. This year’s very low number of hitters hints at a real strength of the team — stability. Compare this year’s 19 to last year’s 32. In 2011 there were 25 different batters, 28 in 2010, 27 in 2009. This year was well below normal and, given their talent, that was a good thing.

Players are listed in the table are sorted by the number of games played. The less familiar stats such as weighted on-base average (wOBA) and weighted runs above average (wRAA) are explained at the links. Players with an asterisk are left-handed batters. Data sources are Baseball Reference.com and Fangraphs. See Part 2 for a version of this table sorted by wOBA.

Name	Age	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	wOBA	wRAA
Cole Figueroa*	26	129	533	.286	.361	.367	.727	.337	4.3
Vince Belnome*	25	127	533	.300	.408	.446	.854	.389	25.6
Tim Beckham	23	122	522	.276	.342	.387	.729	.334	3.2
Mike Fontenot*	33	120	470	.264	.335	.379	.714	.328	0.6
Leslie Anderson*	31	119	494	.292	.372	.459	.832	.375	18.7
Brandon Guyer	27	98	405	.301	.374	.458	.832	.377	15.9
Chris Gimenez	30	95	375	.224	.350	.305	.656	.316	-3.0
Jason Bourgeois	31	90	391	.290	.343	.368	.711	.325	-0.3
Shelley Duncan	33	90	376	.215	.287	.382	.669	.303	-6.6
Wil Myers	22	64	289	.286	.356	.520	.876	.387	13.5
Jesus Flores	28	52	189	.178	.212	.244	.456	.211	-16.7
Rich Thompson*	34	50	217	.249	.325	.312	.638	.300	-4.3
Evan Frey*	27	47	148	.230	.329	.262	.591	.286	-4.5
Kevin Kiermaier*	23	39	154	.263	.338	.423	.761	.344	2.1
Ryan Roberts	32	37	148	.210	.320	.274	.594	.286	-4.5
Craig Albernaz	30	33	115	.225	.279	.304	.583	.271	-4.9
Juan Apodaca	26	29	97	.238	.333	.357	.690	.323	-0.3
Hak-Ju Lee*	22	15	57	.422	.536	.600	1.136	.508	8.0
Luke Scott	35	3	14	.333	.429	.333	.762	.338	0.1

2013 Durham Bulls Hitters
 sorted by number of games played

Cole Figueroa had his first full season with the Bulls (he played in 88 games in 2012) and had a very good year, mostly at third base. He undoubtedly was a key part of this year’s team. He showed excellent plate discipline. His walk to strikeout ratio was 1.8, one of the best on the team. In a perfect world it would be nice if he were just a step quicker. On the other hand, his 62 RBI, the third best on the team, were crucial to the Bulls. Is he just a young Mike Fontenot? Maybe. But we aren’t going to know until he gets some major league time. As Bulls fans we’d be happy to see him back on the team next year. Stats.

Vince Belnome was the all-around star of the 2013 Bulls. If his performance fell off a bit in the last few weeks of the season, he still had a career year and deserved the accolades he accumulated (All-Star, MVP). He led the team regulars in virtually every category and his importance shows through in his superb wOBA and wRAA stats. At the beginning of the year he played some 3B and even some 2B, but by the end he was essentially the Bulls regular first baseman, although he shared some time with Shelley Duncan. Belnome is only 25 years old, so going forward will certainly depend on his fit with the Rays, not the Bulls. He made a difference to the Bulls. Sure wouldn’t hurt to have him back. Stats.

Tim Beckham started the year at second base, clearly making way for the upcoming star, Hak-Ju Lee, at the shortstop position. It didn’t work out that way. Lee’s early and season-ending injury put Beckham in the shortstop position for the rest of the year where he was OK, but not spectacular. But that could be said for most of the Bulls this year. Beckham’s numbers are fine. His 51 RBI and 17 stolen bases were part of a winning package. He was one of the few Bulls position players on the Rays 40-man and he got his September call-up. At this writing he has appeared in 4 games, pinch-running, second base and shortstop. He’s 2 for 6. At a guess he will be back next year playing second base. In a perfect world, I’d guess the Rays want him to be showing a bit more plate discipline (BB/K of 0.41 isn’t very good if you’re not booming home runs). Stats.

Mike Fontenot was one of those guys who, from this fan’s perspective, came to work and did his job for the Bulls. From the stands there was always a hint that he was an infielder-in-waiting if someone got hurt down in St. Petersburg. At 33, he and Shelley Duncan were the senior members of the crew. 2013 was the first full year since 2007 that he has not had at least some time in the major leagues (He’s appeared in 583 major league games). His substantial amount of playing time is another reminder of how the injury to Lee changed the Bulls’ approach this year. Returning next year? At a guess, no. Stats.

Leslie Anderson has been a favorite of WDBB for the last couple of years and his performance has meant a lot to the team. This year he led the team in RBI. But this was also the year where a fundamental weakness against left-handed pitching came into view. At 31 and at the end of his original contract with the Rays, things are not looking good for his return. An interesting profile of his career as a Durham Bull is part of the Bull City Summer  here. Unless something comes up, expect the Bulls to be looking elsewhere for power at the plate next year. Stats.

Brandon Guyer seems to have a cloud hovering over him. He’s sort of the Joe Btfsplk of the Rays system (although to be completely accurate, Joe Btfsplk actually brought bad luck to other people, not himself). Seems like we’ve been watching him a long time, ever since he came over from the Cubs system in 2011. And every time he’s about to break through something bad happens. This year he started slow and just when things seemed to be coming into focus his finger was broken. This year Guyer showed off his speed. And it was impressive. He had 22 stolen bases in his 98 games. Hard to say what he would have had if he’d had 10 or 20 more games. He was also a rare Bulls position player on the 40-man this year and he was subject to some bizarre end-of-season roster manipulations by the Rays that left a bad taste in our mouth. But if Guyer was able to spin it into a paycheck, then OK. It didn’t hurt the Bulls. I like him a lot. I really like having a right-handed bat that was a threat and a right-fielder who could play the position well. The 15.9 wRAA tells us he was a real asset to the team. He has also been profiled by Bull City Summer here. Stats.

Chris Gimenez has to be disappointed with his work at the plate this year and yet from the stands he sure looked to be a threat every time he came to bat. For a month and more the Bulls were starved for outfielders and Leslie Anderson and Gimenez spent a lot of time out on the grass. A catcher by trade, he only had 56 of his games in that position. He got a September callup and has been in 4 games so far at 1B, 3B, and catcher. He participated in an interesting discussion on pitching, also from Bull City Summer, here and here. Stats.

Hemstitching: Elliot Johnson back to the DBAP? And more

Durham Bulls Athletic Park, March 8, 2014

• 26 Days to Go!
• The sun came out today!
• Condition of the infield looks worrisome
• Former Bull and WDBB favorite Elliot Johnson is off to a hot start as a non-roster invitee to the Cleveland Indians camp. In five games his OPS is 1.308 with two triples and 1 HR. If he doesn’t break through, then we will very likely be seeing him with the Columbus Clippers this year. They come to town on May 1. 
• Vince Belnome, one of last years stars, is getting some good press down with the Rays.
• As is Kevin Kiermaier as seen here.
• Former Durham Bull, Dirk Hayhurst has just published the third installment in his ongoing saga as a baseball player, Bigger Than the Game. He has not yet reached his year with the Bulls (2011), so we don’t yet know what he thinks about Durham. Review by Adam Sobsey here. I haven’t had a chance to get a copy yet. 
• Bull City Summer got some national attention on Slate magazine.
• An interesting look at how the Rays approach the DH situation is here. Playing on artificial turf is awfully tough no matter how much they work at making it imitate real grass.

What About Charlie?

Turmoil at the top of the Rays system. What might that mean for our favorite Durham Bull, Charlie Montoyo?

Prompted somewhat by the comments by Cork Gaines over at Rays Index and with all the usual caveats, here are my thoughts. Jump in with yours.

The Rays have worked very hard to build a decent minor league system, although more of their success has come through trades rather than home grown talent. How satisfied are they with what they’ve got rather than what they’d like to have?

What they’ve got, in Durham, is a pretty famous fellow. He’s won a bunch of championships, has been featured in the only two books in recent memory about Triple-A baseball (John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name, and Sam Stephenson’s Bull City Summer), and has fed a lot of ballplayers upward to the Rays.

For several years the Rays bench coach, Dave Martinez, went off to end-of-season interviews for manager jobs and Charlie was always at the top of my list for his replacement. But Martinez never got a job. This year Manager Joe Maddon left and the Rays began looking for a replacement. Charlie was on the initial list, but didn’t make to the end. Former Bull Kevin Cash got the job.

Then Martinez left and later joined Maddon with the Cubs. The Rays bench coach slot is wide open.

How important is perception? My own take is that I never noticed any particular closeness between Maddon and Montoyo; however, Montoyo obviously had daily conversations with someone in St. Petersburg. My perception is that Charlie was not part of Maddon’s “crew” and thus is not on a chopping block.

But, and this is a big but, how important is he to the “system” by staying at AAA? From a systemic point of view our judgement is that Charlie Montoyo is the most important on-the-field guy in the entire Rays system. Looked like the folks in St. Pete were telling him what they needed, and he figured out how to provide it to them. Over in our section of the stands I’ve always taken the position that Charlier was doing more good for the Rays in Durham than he would as a bench coach (whatever that is) in St. Pete.

And yet ...

As far as I can tell the Rays new manager Kevin Cash never played for Charlie, but he did have three tours with International League teams while Montoyo was managing the Bulls: Pawtucket in 2007, Scranton/Wilkes Barre in 2009, and back with Pawtucket in 2010. Cash had a chance to see the changes/philosophy that Montoyo brought to the Bulls after the disaster of 2006. Cash might want to work with Charlie.

Unfortunately for the Bulls fans, I have to say that Cash/Montoyo could be one heck of a team. And, since baseball is, after all, about “moving up” maybe it’s Charlie’s time. He has certainly earned it. After sending so many guys to the "bigs" maybe it is his time.

So, WDBB wants to see him in a Rays uniform on the bench in Tropicana Field …

But we sure would be happy to see him back in Durham in 2015, too.

Look Back; Look Forward

Durham Bulls Athletic Park, October 19, 2013

Most seasons we do a review of what we liked and what we thought were areas to work on for the DBAP and the Bulls in the season. We put out an invite for further comment and we usually get a few interesting observations.

This year is different because of the renovations going on. To be honest, until the announcement was made I had not noticed that things were getting a bit shabby around the edges. After the announcement, however, we started looking more closely and realized that renovation would be a very good thing. On the other hand, until we see what happens (including cup holders for the front row of the terrace reserved seats!) we'll hold off on comments about facilities. The plans look good, though.

So let’s just talk about what worked well:

• National Anthem singers. When you listen to 60 or 70 performances a year you quickly come to appreciate effort that the Bulls invested in finding performers. We particularly like the choral groups. Also notable were a brass group whose name I missed and an a cappella group called Cognitive Resonance.
• Bull Durham racers. Fun to watch and creative in finding ways for Nuke to lose each race. Hope they come back next year.
• Food Truck events. The only down side of the food trucks was that it gave you a hint of what was possible down in the regular concession area. We hate to miss a moment of baseball, so we had to come very early. Being in right field, if the sun was out, it could be brutal for the vendors, I’d think. We appreciate the difficult balance that has to be made with contractors, etc., but it was a good idea worthy of a couple of repeats next year.
• I’m not big beer drinker, so I appreciated beer in small quantities being available (if not the price). Nice to taste all the varieties available. More always better, of course.
• Bull City Summer was an interesting adjunct to the season. We are looking forward to the book when it becomes available.

What else? Chime in.

News

On the Bulls website

• You can download a stencil to carve a Wool E. Bull pumkin.
• Buy a Governors’ Cup Champions T-shirt (got mine already).
• Take a look at the 2014 schedule (April 3! 166 days … a long, long time).

Players:

• Several 2013 Bulls have declared free agency: Ryan Roberts, Shelley Duncan, Jason Bourgeois and J.D. Martin. The last three made a difference this year. I'll miss them. Nothing precludes the Rays from re-signing, but usually doesn’t happen.
• Out in the Arizona Fall League Mike Montgomery and Merrill Kelly are at work for the Salt River Rafters along with several other Rays prospects we’ve never seen.  

Sunday, NC Museum of Art, Bull City Summer Opens, Be There!

Frank Hunter, BCS

If you are like me, you've been waiting months to take a look at the images created by that crowd of photographers last summer. Our day has come. Sunday.

Ivan Weiss, BCS

One More Bull Who Won't Be Back ... And More

Mike Fontenot, Aug 20 2014
Photo courtesy Durham Herald-Sun

• Mike Fontenot has signed with the Nationals, so he won't be back. He played in 120 games for the Bulls last year and, as we reported in our year-end summary, he was a key part of the championship team. We always considered him something of an infielder-in-waiting if the Rays needed someone in a hurry. Very solid stats. He only had 12 errors and he participated in 56 double plays last year. Good luck, Mike. Hope you get a shot at wearing a Nationals uniform. Otherwise we'll see you in a Syracuse Chiefs outfit when the Bulls come calling on May 5th.

• Rays pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 32 days, Port Charlotte, Florida.

• First Bulls game in 80 days.

• Meanwhile, remember all those extra folks walking around with cameras and press passes last year? Well, mark your calendar for February 23d at the North Carolina Museum of Art when the Bull City Summer exhibit goes on display. Now, here's WDBB's question: is the opening going to be black tie, champagne and canapés? Or is it going to be jeans, flip-flops and t-shirts, beer, and hot dogs? Art as baseball or baseball as art?

• How about that grass? Looks like it survived the cold snap. Had me worried.

DBAP, Jan 13, 2014

Durham Bulls Basics — 2017 — Part 3

The Players

Each of the 30 major league teams has 25 players = 750 major league baseball players (!). Out of those 25, usually 13 are pitchers and 12 are position players = 390 pitchers (usually 5 starters - 150; and 8 relievers - 240); 360 position players. Of those 12 position players, most teams have 2 catchers, 5 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

For those 750 guys who are on a major league roster, we have another 750 players divided into 25 man teams who are in Triple-A and, trust me, every one of them could be playing in the major leagues today.

How do the Durham Bulls fit into that?

Well, now, sigh, we need to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the players wearing the Durham Bulls uniform. To oversimplify just a bit, the Tampa Bay Rays have a contract to provide the Durham Bulls a baseball team. In turn, the Durham Bulls provide a place to play and folks to cheer them on (that would be us).

To clear up some possible confusion, the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in St. Petersburg, Florida, not Tampa. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those not familiar with Florida geography (or modern marketing strategies).

As mentioned above, a major league team consists of 25 players on the “active” roster. Those are the guys in the games and in the box scores, traveling in chartered airplanes, and making a decent, sometimes obscene, amount of money.

The 40-man Roster

An additional 15 players are added to the 25 to make up a 40-man roster. In general, once a player makes it to the 25-man "active" roster he stays there (unless traded, sold, released, or designated for assignment). For players who have been around for a while, there are all sorts of byzantine rules regarding how this works. To complicate matters, the rules were changed last year to allow major league teams to expand their roster to 26 on days that they have a double-header. What matters to Bulls fans, however, is that a Bull cannot be called up to play in a Rays game (even to temporarily replace an injured player) unless he is first on the 40-man roster.

Here in Durham we are not much interested in the active roster. What matters to Bulls fans are those 15 ballplayers who are on the Rays 40-man but not on the active roster. The current Rays' 40-man is here. And their 25-man, "active," roster is here.

If previous years are typical, we can expect that 11 to 12 of the players on the 40-man, but not on the 25-man roster will be assigned to Durham. Of those 6 or 7 will be pitchers and 4 or 5 will be position players. Of the pitchers, one or two will be prospective starting pitchers, the others potential relievers. Fairly often when WDBB writes about a Bull we will mention whether or not he’s on the 40-man.

What about the rest of the team? Without exception — and this is part of what makes AAA baseball so much fun — they are ballplayers who have played, or are judged capable of playing, at the major league level. The precise reason why they are not playing there is also part of the fun — too young, too old, no room at the top, need to work on a specific skill — sometimes all of the above.

The odds of a player being called up are pretty good. There are enough injuries and trades in a given year that almost all of the players on the 40-man who start the year with the Bulls will at least get a few days with the Rays. Some will go there and stay.

However, unless Tampa Bay takes someone off the 40-man, a non-40 man player cannot be called up. Adjustment to the 40-man roster can, and does, happen — just not very often. On the other hand, the Rays are nothing if not creative in gaming the system.

The 40-man roster also has an effect on how the players who are with the Bulls are used. For example, pitchers may be on limited pitch counts and/or working on specific pitches that the Rays have decided the pitcher needs to develop. Relievers may be tested to see if they can do two days in a row, or “tried out” as a closer. We will see infielders playing the outfield (and vice versa).

My point is that sometimes what we see on the field is decided in St. Petersburg, not in the Bulls’ clubhouse. The Rays really aren’t particularly interested in the Bulls’ won-loss record. So, we will inevitably see some unfortunate (for Bulls fans) decisions, such as a player being called up, sitting on the Rays’ bench for a couple of weeks, then coming back to Durham with his timing shot and struggling at bat. And with this new 26 man roster for double header rule, Bulls’ pitching rotations can get really screwed up with a pitcher being called up for a spot start and then coming back.

Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the fact that the Durham Bulls live and die at the whim of the Tampa Bay Rays' front office. What’s fortunate for Bulls fans is that the Rays have invested a ton of effort into building a steady stream of talent to feed into the big team. More than that, in the Rays system very few upcoming prospects just “pass through” AAA-level ball. Time with the Bulls is a real and very serious testing ground for pitchers and hitters. That means we will get to see some talented ballplayers. Lastly, without the Rays we wouldn’t have AAA ball here at all.

All of which is not going to keep me from complaining about the Rays. Hey, it’s baseball!

More Stuff

For more background on the 114 years of Durham Bulls history, check out the Bulls’ History page and their Wikipedia page.

For a terrific book about Triple-A baseball, the Durham Bulls, and sheer great writing and photography, you cannot go wrong by picking up a copy of Bull City Summer. Available at local bookstores, the Bulls ballpark store (on sale, $20!) or online shops. We reviewed the book here.


If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2, and you will be the expert in the DBAP this year.

Durham Bulls Basics - 2018 - Part 3

The Players

Each of the 30 major league teams has 25 players = 750 major league baseball players(!). Out of those 25, usually 13 are pitchers and 12 are position players = 390 pitchers (usually 5 starters - 150; and 8 relievers - 240); 360 position players. Of those 12 position players, most teams have 2 catchers, 5 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

For those 750 guys who are on a major league roster, we have another 750 players divided into 25 man teams who are in Triple-A and, trust me, every one of them could be playing in the major leagues today.

How do the Durham Bulls fit into that?

Well, now, sigh, we need to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the players wearing the Durham Bulls uniform. To oversimplify just a bit, the Tampa Bay Rays have a contract to provide the Durham Bulls a baseball team. In turn, the Durham Bulls provide a place to play and folks to cheer them on (that would be us).

To clear up some possible confusion, the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in St. Petersburg, Florida, not Tampa, in a much-maligned, but actually not too bad, domed stadium. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those not familiar with Florida geography (or modern marketing strategies).

As mentioned above, major league team consists of 25 players on the “active” roster. Those are the guys in the games and in the box scores, traveling in chartered airplanes, and making decent, sometimes obscene, amounts of money.

The 40-man Roster

An additional 15 players are added the 25 to make up a 40-man roster. In general, once a player makes it to the 25-man "active" roster he stays there (unless traded, sold, released, or designated for assignment). For players who have been around for a while, there are all sorts of byzantine rules regarding how this works. To complicate matters, the rules were recently changed to allow major league teams to expand their roster to 26 on days that they have a double-header. What matters to Bulls fans, however, is that a Bull cannot be called up to play in a Rays game (even to temporarily replace an injured player) unless he is first on the 40-man roster.

Here in Durham, we are not much interested in the active roster. What matters to Bulls fans are those 15 ballplayers who are on the Rays 40-man but not on the active roster. Members of that 15 man group usually make up the heart of the Durham Bulls.

If previous years are typical, we can expect that 11 to 12 of the players on the 40-man will be assigned to Durham and they will probably be split about 6 or 7 pitchers and 4 or 5 position players. Of the pitchers, one or two will be prospective starting pitchers, the other potential relievers. Fairly often when WDBB writes about a Bull we will mention whether or not he’s on the 40-man.

What about the rest of the team? Without exception — and this is part of what makes AAA baseball so much fun — they are ballplayers who have played, or are judged capable of playing, at the major league level. The precise reason why they are not playing there is also part of the fun — too young, too old, no room at the top, needs to work on a specific skill — sometimes all of the above.

The odds of a player called up are pretty good. There are enough injuries and trades in a given year that almost all of the players on the 40-man who start the year with the Bulls will at least get a few days with the Rays. Some will go there and stay.

However, unless Tampa Bay takes someone off the 40-man, a non-40 man player cannot be called up. Adjustment to the 40-man roster can, and does, happen — just not very often. On the other hand, the Rays are nothing if not creative in gaming the system.

The 40-man roster also has an effect on how the players who are with the Bulls are used. For example, pitchers may be on limited pitch counts and/or working on specific pitches that the Rays have decided the pitcher needs to develop. Relievers may be tested to see if they can do two days in a row, or “tried out” as a closer. We will see infielders playing the outfield (and vice versa).

My point is that sometimes what we see on the field is decided in St. Petersburg, not in the Bulls’ clubhouse. The Rays really aren’t particularly interested in the Bulls’ won-loss record. So, we will inevitably see some unfortunate (for Bulls fans) decisions, such as a player being called up, sitting on the Rays’ bench for a couple of weeks, then coming back to Durham with his timing shot and struggling at bat. And with this new 26 man roster for doubleheader rule, Bulls’ pitching rotations can get really screwed up with a pitcher being called up for a spot start and then coming back.

Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the fact that the Durham Bulls live and die at the whim of the Tampa Bay Rays' front office. What’s fortunate for Bulls fans is that the Rays have invested a ton of effort into building a steady stream of talent to feed into the big team. More than that, in the Rays system very few upcoming prospects just “pass through” AAA-level ball. Time with the Bulls is a real and very serious testing ground for pitchers and hitters. That means we will get to see some very talented ballplayers with first-rate managing/coaching crew. Lastly, without the Rays, we wouldn’t have AAA ball here at all.

All of which is not going to keep me from complaining about the Rays. Hey, it’s baseball!

More Stuff

For  more background on the 114 years of Durham Bulls history, check out the Bulls’ History link page and their Wikipedia page.

For a terrific book about Triple-A baseball, the Durham Bulls, and sheer great writing and photography, you cannot go wrong by picking up a copy of Bull City Summer. Available at local bookstores,  or online shops. We reviewed the book here.

See also Durham Bulls Basics - Part 1 and Part 2

Durham Bulls Basics 2015 - Part 3

The Players

Each major league team has 25 players = 750 major league baseball players. Out of those 25 usually 13 are pitchers and 12 are position players: 390 pitchers (usually 5 starters - 150; and 8 relievers - 240); 360 position players. Of those 12 position players most teams have 2 catchers, 5 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

For those 750 guys who are on a major league roster, we have another 750 players divided into 25 man teams who are in Triple-A and, trust me, every one of them could be playing in the major leagues today.

How do the Durham Bulls fit into that?

Well, now, sigh, we need to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the players wearing the Durham Bulls uniform. To oversimplify just the bit, the Tampa Bay Rays have a contract to provide the Durham Bulls a baseball team. In turn, the Durham Bulls provide a place to play and folks to cheer them on (that would be us).

To clear up some possible confusion, the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in St. Petersburg, Florida, not Tampa. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those not familiar with Florida geography (or modern marketing strategies).

As mentioned above major league team consists of 25 players on the “active” roster. Those are the guys in the games and in the box scores, traveling in chartered airplanes, and making a decent, sometimes obscene, amounts of money.

The 40-man Roster

An additional 15 players are added to make up a 40-man roster. In general, once a player makes it to the 25-man active roster he stays there (unless traded, sold, or designated for assignment). For players who have been around for a while, there are all sorts of byzantine rules regarding how this works. To complicate matters, the rules were recently changed to allow major league teams to expand their roster to 26 on days that they have a double-header. What matters to Bulls fans, however, is that a Bull cannot be called up to play in a Rays game (even to temporarily replace an injured player) unless he is first on the 40-man roster.

Here in Durham we are not much interested in the active roster. What matters to Bulls fans are those 15 ballplayers who are on the Rays 40-man but not on the active roster. Members of that 15 man group usually make up the heart of the Durham Bulls.

If previous years are typical, we can expect that 11 to 12 of the players on the 40-man will be assigned to Durham and they will probably be split about 6 or 7 pitchers and 4 or 5 position players. Players on the 40-man who aren’t with the Bulls are oddities a bit difficult to explain and don’t really make that much difference to us. Mostly they are playing at AA and lower levels. Of the pitchers, one or two will be prospective starting pitchers, the other potential relievers. Fairly often when WDBB writes about a Bull we will mention whether or not he’s on the 40-man.

What about the rest of the team? Without exception — and this is part of what makes AAA baseball so much fun — they are ballplayers who have played or are judged capable of playing at the major league level. The precise reason why they are not playing today is also part of the fun — too young, too old, no room at the top, needs to work on a specific skill — sometimes all of the above.

The odds of a player called up are pretty good. There are enough injuries and trades in a given year that almost all of the players on the 40-man who start the year with the Bulls will at least get a few days with the Rays. Some will go there and stay.

However, unless Tampa Bay takes someone off the 40-man, a non-40 man player cannot be called up. Adjustment to the 40-man roster can, and does, happen, but not very often. On the other hand, the Rays are nothing if not creative in gaming the major league player rules system.

The 40-man roster also has an effect on how the players who are with the Bulls are used. For example, pitchers may be on limited pitch counts and/or working on specific pitches that the Rays have decided the pitcher needs to develop. Relievers may be tested to see if they can do two days in a row, or “tried out” as a closer. We will see infielders playing the outfield (and vice versa).

My point is that sometimes what we see on the field is decided in St. Petersburg, not in the Bulls’ clubhouse. The Rays really aren’t particularly interested in the Bulls’ won-loss record. So, we will inevitably see some unfortunate (for the Bulls) decisions, such as a player being called up, sitting on the Rays’ bench for a couple of weeks, then coming back to Durham with his timing shot and struggling at bat. And with this new 26 man roster for double header rule, Bulls’ pitching rotations can get really screwed up with a pitcher being called up for a spot start and then coming back.

We cannot avoid the fact that the Durham Bulls live and die at the whim of the Tampa Bay Rays front office. What’s fortunate for Bulls fans is that the Rays have invested a ton of effort into building a steady stream of talent to feed into the big team. More than that, in the Rays system very few upcoming prospects just “pass through” AAA-level ball. Time with the Bulls is a real and very serious testing ground for pitchers and hitters. That means we will get to see a some very talented ballplayers with first rate managing/coaching crew. Lastly, without the Rays we wouldn’t have AAA ball here at all.

All of which is not going to keep me from complaining about the Rays. Hey, it’s baseball!

More Stuff

For  more background on the 113 years of Durham Bulls history, check out the Bulls’ History link page and their Wikipedia page.

For a terrific book about Triple-A baseball, the Durham Bulls, and sheer great writing and photography, you cannot go wrong by picking up a copy of Bull City Summer. Available at local book stores,  the Bulls ballpark store or online shops. We reviewed the book here.

If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2, and you will be the expert in the DBAP this year.

Durham Bulls Basics 2016 - Part 3

The Players

Each major league team has 25 players = 750 major league baseball players. Out of those 25, usually 13 are pitchers and 12 are position players = 390 pitchers (usually 5 starters - 150; and 8 relievers - 240); 360 position players. Of those 12 position players most teams have 2 catchers, 5 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

For those 750 guys who are on a major league roster, we have another 750 players divided into 25 man teams who are in Triple-A and, trust me, every one of them could be playing in the major leagues today.

How do the Durham Bulls fit into that?

Well, now, sigh, we need to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the players wearing the Durham Bulls uniform. To oversimplify just the bit, the Tampa Bay Rays have a contract to provide the Durham Bulls a baseball team. In turn, the Durham Bulls provide a place to play and folks to cheer them on (that would be us).

To clear up some possible confusion, the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in St. Petersburg, Florida, not Tampa. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those not familiar with Florida geography (or modern marketing strategies).

As mentioned above, major league team consists of 25 players on the “active” roster. Those are the guys in the games and in the box scores, traveling in chartered airplanes, and making a decent, sometimes obscene, amounts of money.

The 40-man Roster

An additional 15 players are added the 25 to make up a 40-man roster. In general, once a player makes it to the 25-man "active" roster he stays there (unless traded, sold, released, or designated for assignment). For players who have been around for a while, there are all sorts of byzantine rules regarding how this works. To complicate matters, the rules were recently changed to allow major league teams to expand their roster to 26 on days that they have a double-header. What matters to Bulls fans, however, is that a Bull cannot be called up to play in a Rays game (even to temporarily replace an injured player) unless he is first on the 40-man roster.

Here in Durham we are not much interested in the active roster. What matters to Bulls fans are those 15 ballplayers who are on the Rays 40-man but not on the active roster. Members of that 15 man group usually make up the heart of the Durham Bulls.

If previous years are typical, we can expect that 11 to 12 of the players on the 40-man will be assigned to Durham and they will probably be split about 6 or 7 pitchers and 4 or 5 position players. Players on the 40-man who aren’t with the Bulls are oddities a bit difficult to explain and don’t really make that much difference to us. Mostly they are playing at AA and lower levels. Of the pitchers, one or two will be prospective starting pitchers, the other potential relievers. Fairly often when WDBB writes about a Bull we will mention whether or not he’s on the 40-man.

What about the rest of the team? Without exception — and this is part of what makes AAA baseball so much fun — they are ballplayers who have played or are judged capable of playing at the major league level. The precise reason why they are not playing there is also part of the fun — too young, too old, no room at the top, needs to work on a specific skill — sometimes all of the above.

The odds of a player called up are pretty good. There are enough injuries and trades in a given year that almost all of the players on the 40-man who start the year with the Bulls will at least get a few days with the Rays. Some will go there and stay.

However, unless Tampa Bay takes someone off the 40-man, a non-40 man player cannot be called up. Adjustment to the 40-man roster can, and does, happen, but not very often. On the other hand, the Rays are nothing if not creative in gaming the major league player rules system.

The 40-man roster also has an effect on how the players who are with the Bulls are used. For example, pitchers may be on limited pitch counts and/or working on specific pitches that the Rays have decided the pitcher needs to develop. Relievers may be tested to see if they can do two days in a row, or “tried out” as a closer. We will see infielders playing the outfield (and vice versa).

My point is that sometimes what we see on the field is decided in St. Petersburg, not in the Bulls’ clubhouse. The Rays really aren’t particularly interested in the Bulls’ won-loss record. So, we will inevitably see some unfortunate (for the Bulls and Bulls fans) decisions, such as a player being called up, sitting on the Rays’ bench for a couple of weeks, then coming back to Durham with his timing shot and struggling at bat. And with this new 26 man roster for double header rule, Bulls’ pitching rotations can get really screwed up with a pitcher being called up for a spot start and then coming back.

We cannot avoid the fact that the Durham Bulls live and die at the whim of the Tampa Bay Rays front office. What’s fortunate for Bulls fans is that the Rays have invested a ton of effort into building a steady stream of talent to feed into the big team. More than that, in the Rays system very few upcoming prospects just “pass through” AAA-level ball. Time with the Bulls is a real and very serious testing ground for pitchers and hitters. That means we will get to see a some very talented ballplayers with first rate managing/coaching crew. Lastly, without the Rays we wouldn’t have AAA ball here at all.

All of which is not going to keep me from complaining about the Rays. Hey, it’s baseball!

More Stuff

For  more background on the 114 years of Durham Bulls history, check out the Bulls’ History link page and their Wikipedia page.

For a terrific book about Triple-A baseball, the Durham Bulls, and sheer great writing and photography, you cannot go wrong by picking up a copy of Bull City Summer. Available at local book stores, the Bulls ballpark store or online shops. We reviewed the book here.

If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2, and you will be the expert in the DBAP this year.