Carolina Mudcats, Five County Stadium, Zebulon

On May 21 my wife Angela and I were on hand to see the Carolina Mudcats defeat the visiting Down East Wood Ducks, 2-1, in a Carolina League contest. There were two rain delays but they got the full 8.5 innings in.

In 1990 Steve Bryant announced his wish to relocate his Southern League franchise from Columbus, Georgia to Raleigh. We learned, however, that organized baseball has a territorial rights rule, so that an existing franchise is protected against another one moving to within 35 miles of its home park. Some clubs waive their territorial rights, sometimes for a financial consideration. But Miles Wolff, owner of the Durham Bulls, insisted on his 35 miles of elbow room. That’s how the Carolina Mudcats came to make their home in the much-smaller town of Zebulon rather than Raleigh.

I won't write the history of baseball in the Triangle right now, but the early '90s was a pivotal time. Raleigh didn't get its team restored in 1990, the one it had lost in 1967. Who knows how that might have played out if Miles Wolff had decided differently. The Durham Bulls, meanwhile, benefited from the reflected glow of the popular Kevin Costner movie released in '88, as well as population growth in Durham, and flourished. They built a new stadium and in 1998 moved up from A to AAA status, to membership in the International League. Although they won a couple of Southern League pennants along the way, the Mudcats made the opposite move in 2011: they shortened their horizons. Ownership complained that travel costs were killing them, so they dropped from AA to A, to a smaller league (the Carolina League) that meant lower costs but a lower caliber of play. 

I'm a tiny bit embarrassed to admit it, but living in Raleigh all this time, I'd never been to a Mudcats game until the other day, whereas I've been to numerous Bulls games. But if I regard it as an either-or choice, it's not hard to explain. There is more to see and do in Durham than in Zebulon, and AAA baseball is better than A baseball.

Zebulon is considered part of the Triangle media market, but it feels rural. Zebulon is an early signpost on the road past the minor-league ghost towns of Wilson and Rocky Mount, toward the great northeastern N.C. coastal plain, the home territory of the Perry brothers and Jim Hunter.

Five County Stadium seats 6,500. The park was built for the Mudcats’ arrival in 1991. It is surrounded by open land, so there were no constraints on the outfield dimensions, but they made it asymmetrical: 330’ down the left field line with a high wall, 15 feet or so, but a more enticing 305’ to right, with a wall of maybe eight feet. This is the only minor quirk of the place; it is clean and simple and fan-friendly.

Our food selections consisted of popcorn, hot dogs, and a funnel cake, all of which hit the spot. Beers consumed were the Deep River Mango Tango Foxtrot IPA and the Red Oak Bavarian Amber Lager. Despite the spotty weather, the atmosphere among the crowd was fun and positive. We noticed one mean-spirited heckler, but a lot of families, a lot of civic groups and whatnot. The grounds crew hustled while getting soaked, rolling the infield tarp out and then back as the rains came and went. I got the feeling that any teenager in Zebulon has a job at the ballpark if they want one. 

The Zebulon area has produced a handful of baseball notables:

• Jim Pearce grew up, grew old, died and is buried within a few miles of Five County Stadium. As a young man Pearce had a brief career in the majors, 30 games over five seasons with Washington and Cincinnati, but quite a long minor league career. He played in the 1940s and 50s. 
• Jakie May grew up in Wendell, the next town over from Zebulon. May bounced around the National League for 14 seasons as a pitcher, culminating at age 36, with the 1932 Chicago Cubs, when he had the privilege of getting rocked by the New York Yankees in the World Series in two relief appearances, taking one loss.
• A pitcher from my childhood, Jim Bibby, recorded 111 big league wins over 12 seasons. He had one of his best years with the 1979 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Bibby was from Franklinton. 

Ange and I are on a quest to visit every North Carolina minor league park this season. This is number 1. I have a notion to do one of these rambling reviews for every park we visit. I'm sure they will evolve.