6 THE CAROLINA TIMES
SAT.. AUGUST 29, 1981
FUNERAL FOE; A FRIEND
By Eboa Armstrong, Jr.
I received the sad news
this past Tuesday from
Winston-Salem that- it
was all over. Death had
come not with a bang but
a whimper. It was totally
expected. It was just a
matter of time for the
patient had been "sick"
for the past two months.
In a way it was a relief.
Why should someone
continue to suffer like
that?
months before.
- Murphy's Law was in
prime form for this club;
; "Anything that can go
wrong will go wrong'. It
; was bad enough to bring
tears to baseball fans
. who had already been
disillusioned by the an
' tics in the major leagues
this season.
The Durham Bulls,
who had started this
. season where they left.
off in 1980, exit this
With "his" passing reason a beaten ana bat
came time to reflect on tcred bunch of young
the good times. What a
difference a year makes!
Just last year this time,
the patient had seemed
hooked on the super
natural as everything
"he" touched seemed to
turn to gold. But now, in
the late waning days of
August, "he" died after
a summer of pain and
heartbreak. The patient
that I keep referring to
was actually a collective
of patients the 1981
Durham Bulls.
Yes, the 10-9 loss at
Winston-Salem last
Tuesday mathematically
eliminated the Bulls
from this year's Carolina
League pennant race,
but they had been
kayoed out of the main
action as long as two ? their heroes and nobody,
men.
A club that once
laughed when they were
behind 8-0 because they
knew that in a flash they
would tie the score, in
the end was having trou
ble holding on to 6-1
leads in the ninth inning!
A team that used to:
show flashes of big
league brilliance was
.reduced to a squad that
could hardly turn little
league plays!
A team that was vir-
4ually injury free in 1980,
at times appeared to be a
walking MASH unit!
For the first time since
minor league ball return
ed to Durham, the home
fans, found cause to boo
including the manager
and players,' blamed
, them. . ' .
u'- Yeah, the breaks -
) definitely didn't fall
Durham's way this '
season.
Consider this: ' '
The Bulls lost the first
half .perinant - by - one
game, (to , Kinston) and
: they, :' played i one.5 less.''
' game (due to rainouts)
than the champion.
Eagles. ..i,;'.- ;;;!'.';i.v:;.
The Bulls had a chance
to tie on the last day of
the first half if they :
swept, a double header
(at home), but they only
managed a split. In the
game that they lost, they
left the potential tying
winning runs in scoring
position as the game end-:
ed. .; , .-;'
In the second half, the
Bulls quickly took the
lead in the . Southern
Division, but, ' things '
quickly went to pot
It all seemed to fall
apart one hot July night
when with the game tied
and two out bottom of
the ninth. The Bulls
seemed destined for vic
tory but catcher Steve
Stieb ignored a "stop : :
sign" at third and was
thrown out at the plate.
The Bulls lost that one in
extra innings and things
were not quite the same
at the old ball park after
that. . ';- ;i-J-:-4;-:'.4 ;;:.V-'
The crowds still turned
out (over 136,000 for the
season at press time) but
the magic was gone. It
was a tragic scene. The
Bulls constantly began to
lose ' home : stands.
Players got injured (Brad;
Komminsk was even in
jured when he turned an
ankle in the dugout when
he stepped on a cup!).
The relief v pitching
became a joke, the bats
went silent, and the fans
could only hang their
hcflds '
Manager "Dirty" Al
Gallagher tried all the
baseball superstitions
to no avail. The season
was a crop out!
The Durham fans
deserve an award. Even
in the worst of times,
they led the league in at
tendance for the second
year in a row. The boo
ing in time became sym
pathetic cheers. They
didn't believe in kicking
the team when it was
down.
" There are some good
. memories of this seasonal
, Brad Komminsk's ; run
for the league triple
crown; a ten-game wihn-,
ing streak in May; the
"i time the Bulls were
; featured on the ,'ABC
: program "hUghtline; .
the time the Chicken
"f paid us a visit; rubbing f
shoulders - with r Hank
, Aaron at the League .AH
r Star game; working with
:t a great bunch of media
' people f for the second
straight yearj and, wat
ching the antics of the
colorful Durham Bulls V
fans. s-t
Yep, it's time to bury
this fateful season and ;
look toward the future,
but before we close out, -it's
time toi thank
"Dirty" Al Gallagher
and his family , for two
memorable years in our
city. We hope they've en
joyed ,E)urham as much
as Durham has enjoyed .
having them here.
To the Bulls players, I
say, keep your chin up! ,
The sun will shine again.
Andr despite it all, you
have given this city many
sunshine days over the
past two years. We'll see "
some of you next year.
For those moving on,
good luck!'1 .
IV) cr--vK-r-'
f
Mi . i
Stargell Gets VFW Award
Pittsburgh Pirates' Willie Stargell is given the Hall of Fame award by the
Veterans of Foreign Wars at their convention in Philadelphia last week. UPI
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