TTM Success - Robert Wuhl

Bull Durham is my favorite baseball movie.  Mostly because the film was shot in North Carolina, with several scenes shot in Winston-Salem, where I grew up.  I remember my grandfather talking about the movie being filmed in the area.  Mr. Destiny, another baseball-related movie, was shot in Winston, as well.  Anyway, I love Bull Durham, and picked up this 1990 Durham Bulls team set update card of the famous Durham mechanical bull.  You know, "hit bull, win steak".  I sent the card off to actor, Robert Wuhl, who played the assistant coach in the movie.

Wuhl (b. 1951) has appeared in several sports-related movies and TV shows.  He played Al Stump in Cobb; Larry in Bull Durham, and Arliss Micaels in Arli$$.  He also appeared in Good Morning Vietnam, Tim Burton's Batman and American Dad, among numerous other movie and TV roles.

I mailed to Wuhl on January 19 and got the card back on January 30, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Butch Davis

Here is a nice TTM that I received from North Carolina's own, Butch Davis.  I actually met Davis several years ago when he was a roving minor league instructor in the Orioles system.  Someone near me pointed out the Davis was in the movie, Bull Durham, and I thought that was pretty interesting.  There is a scene near the beginning of the movie where he strikes out and someone says something like "That's too bad, Butch..." or something to that effect.

I saw that Davis was signing TTM, and the only card I could find was this 1985 Topps.  He was also in 1984 Donruss and 1994 Pinnacle, but I didn't have any of those.

Davis (b. 1958) was born right up the road in Williamston, NC (the same place as the Perry brothers, Gaylord and Jim).  He is an ECU grad and played in the majors in 1983, 84, 87-89. 91, 93 and 94 for the Royals, Pirates, Orioles, Dodgers and Rangers.  He had 110 hits, 7 home runs and a .243 batting average.  He is actually under consideration to return to the Orioles as a minor league coach after spending the last two seasons as a coach on Paul Molitor's staff with the Twins.

I mailed to Davis on November 19 and got the card back on November 25, for a 6-day TAT.

I Believe in The Church of Baseball - My Trip To Durham Part 3

We were able to get some autographs after the game, which was a nice part of the day. I am usually pretty good about getting autos before the game, but I epic failed on that end. Oh well. Chris was able to con George Hendrick out of an official 'practice' ball haha, only after Chris told Hendrick that he would pull for the Rays over the Orioles... Something tells me that won't be the case once the season starts on Tuesday...
Here's the big auto we were able to get, Don Zimmer!! Pretty damn cool. I have added a bunch of older players' autos over the past few months.

Here is Chris posing with Zimmer. I thought for a split second that Zimmer had visions of Pedro Martinez in his head and that Chris would end up in a head lock...

Chris got Matt Gorgen's auto as well. Seems like a really nice guy. I think he is a reliever for the Rays. I need to check the roster...

We also got Ben Zobrist's autograph by the team bus. I am going to have to send that one to a friend of mine whom I owe for my Eddie Guerrero autograph he got me a few years ago...

Candlesticks Are Always a Nice Gift - My Trip to Durham Part 2

Everyone liking the Bull Durham lines? If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend you rent it. Especially for the scene where they all congregate on the mound and discuss wedding presents... classic stuff.

Still doesn't beat Cerrano sacrificing a bucket of KFC Chicken in Major League, though... What is everyone's favorite baseball movie? Mine has to be either Major League, Bull Durham or For The Love of The Game... Here is Chris shaing hands with The Blue Monster. Pretty cool. I thought he may be a little afraid of the mascot, but he did fine. It does look like Chris has a death grip on that railing though.

Bulls players attend to a fallen comrade. The outfielder dove for the ball and crashed into the wall. He made the catch, though. I missed the actual dive, I was looking through m backpack for something... I forget what.

Here is Chris with his lunch... er... I mean his cotton candy. He is such a sneak, I told him no, he couldn't have any, so he goes with his puppy dog look to Max's girlfriend and she fell into his trap...

I will post one more entry concerning my trip later. We were able to get some SWEEET autos after the game. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think...

Hit Bull, Win Steak - My Trip to See the Durham Bulls vs. The Tampa Bay Rays

After the card show, we all went to Durham Bulls Athletic Park to catch the exhibition game between the Durham Bulls and their parent club, the Tampa Bay Rays. I don't know if you have seen Bull Durham, but it is definitely one of the best baseball movies out there (a good bit of it was shot in Winston-Salem, where I grew up).

Since the movie, the Single A Bulls moved to Danville, Virginia and the AAA Bulls were created when the leagues expanded and allowed the Rays and Diamondbacks in. Durham Bulls Athletic Park opened soon after to replace the old park seen in the movie. One of my favorite parts of the movie is the 'Hit Bull, Win Steak' sign. Just a really cool thing, haha.

Cloud cover rolled in about halfway through the game, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was a beautiful day.

As you can see, we were able to catch some great players. Longoria was launching balls over the 'Blue Monster' on a consistent basis. I believe Gabe Kapler his one of the tiers that you can see on the building behind the wall. They need to send Jim Thome or Ken Griffey, Jr to this park and let them take aim at the building.