Mother Nature Wins Steak

“Hit Bull, Win a Steak.  Hit Grass, Win a Salad.”

The Durham Bulls’ bull, justly glorified in the 1988 movie “Bull Durham”, may have met its match yesterday in the form of Mother Nature herself.  As the story goes, any Bull who hits a homerun off of the wooden structure perched in left field wins a steak.  And yes, you guessed it – if a player hits the grass, he wins a salad.  What isn’t clearly defined by the slogan is what happens when Mother Nature ferociously rips the bull’s head off altogether.  From the Durham Bulls Media Relations:

“High winds with gusts over 50 mph ripped the head off of the Bull early Monday morning, ending the run of the junior bovine…’It was a sad sight to see when I arrived this morning,’ Durham Bulls General Manager Mike Birling said, “Mother Nature did what some pretty strong ballplayers never could.”

 Does this sadden anyone?  My friend Henry and I drove well out of our way to visit The Bull during a baseball road trip a few years back and were completely satisfied with what we experienced.  The Bull, a staple of the new ballpark in Durham, came complete with red eyes, smoking nose and lifted tail whenever the hometeam hit a home run.  In my opinion, the Bull successfully symbolized the roots of American baseball cinema…if there is such a thing.   

While reflecting on the beheaded bovine, I will take solace in the fact that the team has already contacted a “veterinarian of sorts” to put the Famous Bull back together again.  In the meantime, I hope Mother Nature enjoys her steak.