University of North Carolina Athletics
An Evening At The DAP
July 8, 2000 | Baseball
July 8, 2000
Chapel Hill, NC - By: Travis Everette, TarHeelBlue.com
For those of you who have never seen the movie Bull Durham, it would certainly be one that I would recommend wholeheartedly. Even though the basis of the film is false, many of the characters and all of the locations are completely real. The main character in the film, a man named Crash Davis, really did play for the Durham Bulls in the 1940's, and he was once quoted as saying the the old Durham Athletic Park, home to baseball since 1939, is the heart of the Bull City.
Somebody should call Mr. Davis and tell him that the beat goes on at the DAP. Baseball on a Friday night in Durham has brought out such greats as Chipper Jones and Gregg Maddux. However, evenings at the old ballpark are now reserved for heroes of amateur sort. I went to the DAP on Friday to see two of Carolina's summer warriors as Tar Heels Chris Maples and Russ Adams took the field for the Durham Braves of the Coastal Plains summer collegiate league.
All the trappings of an old Durham Bulls game were still there. They even left the old P.A. announcer behind to stay with the park. I guess the Bulls figured they would upgrade him as well when they moved to the new palace. Still, though, there he was rasping out "Tention, Tention", leaving the "A" out of attention every time he announced a substitution. I guess we'll have to let Bob slide though, he's a Wolfpack man from way back and even used to blare it out on the mike at Doak Field in Raleigh. At least he didn't quack like a duck with men on base last night as he was prone to do for so many years at the Doak. Finally, I'll have to say that it being Dollar Beer Night really brought out some of the more interesting members of the Durham community, and the bat spin contest is always so much more fun when both contestants are pretty dizzy before they even start to spin.
Maples, a rising junior from nearby Hillsborough starts every game at shortstop for the Braves, while Adams, a sophomore from Laurinburg, holds down the hot corner over at third. Russ has been on a real tear this summer. After leading the league in stolen bases through the first half, he was selected for the Coastal Plains All Star game, to be played in Wilson's Flemming Stadium next Tuesday. He was also coming off a 4-4 performance on Thursday night.
In Friday's contest against the Asheboro Copperheads, both Tar Heels had big games for the Braves. Adams was 2-3 with one hit by pitch. He also started the Braves winning rally in the 11th with a leadoff single, and eventually scored the winning run. That winning run came courtesy of Friday's hero, Chris Maples. With two outs, and Adams standing on second base, Maples hammered home the game winning hit in the form of a double to right field to give the Braves a thrilling 5-4 eleven inning victory. He finished the game also scoring two runs with the double and a hit by pitch. On a side note, I have no idea what the CPL beaning record is, but it must have been approached as Asheboro's starter had plunked four by the bottom of the fifth inning.
All in all, it was a great night out at the old park. As I drove out past the new palace of a ballpark that the Bulls now call home, I felt like rolling down the windows and yelling to the crowd exiting the game that they must have been lost because the REAL baseball was going on a few blocks down the street. If that hadn't worked, I could surely have emptied the new park with an announcement that the Braves had dollar beer.
