page_title: Durham Bulls
section_title: Raleigh-Durham era (1967–1980)
hierarchical_section_title: Durham Bulls / Team history / Raleigh-Durham era (1967–1980)
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this picture on June 25, 1989, at Durham Athletic Park, in North Carolina. "305" is the distance in feet down the right field line. "Bojangles" is a restaurant chain. "The Intimate Bookshop" was a series of bookstores operated by Wallace Kuralt, brother of the newscaster Charles Kuralt. Both Kuralts are now deceased, and the bookstore chain has since folded, the original Franklin Street store being the last to go, in 1998.
context_page_description: The Durham Bulls are an American professional minor league baseball team that currently plays in the International League. The Bulls play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, situated in the downtown area of Durham, North Carolina. Durham Bulls Athletic Park is often called the "DBAP" or "D-Bap". The Bulls are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
  Originally established in 1902 as the Durham Tobacconists and disbanded and restarted numerous times over the years, the Bulls became internationally famous following the release of the 1988 movie Bull Durham starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon.
  Since 1991, the team has been owned by the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company. The Durham Bulls are operated by the operating entity Durham Bulls Baseball Club, Inc. which is also owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company.
context_section_description: In 1967, the Bulls became a New York Mets affiliate. One year later, the Bulls were renamed the Raleigh-Durham Mets. The franchise was renamed because the Bulls acquired the nearby Raleigh Pirates and merged with them. The team still maintained their affiliation with the Mets, playing half of their home games at Durham Athletic Park and half at Devereaux Meadow in Raleigh. The team switched affiliations from the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies and were renamed the Raleigh-Durham Phillies for the 1969 season. The team hadn't been affiliated with the Phillies since the 1932 season. The Phillies abandoned the franchise and the team became independent, renaming themselves the Raleigh-Durham Triangles for the 1970 season. The team played as the Triangles from 1970–1971 and remained independent for both seasons. The franchise disbanded again before the 1972 season, and baseball would not return to Durham until 1980. Also, minor league baseball in Raleigh ended for good. 
  For the 1980 season, the Raleigh-Durham Triangles were reformed and renamed back to the Durham Bulls. On June 22 of that same year, the local CBS affiliate, then WTVD in Durham, broadcast the Bulls game locally, the first time that the Bulls had ever been featured on television. The team also became an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves that season and would remain so until 1998.
caption: The old bull from Durham Athletic Park, added during the filming of Bull Durham
exif: {}