Minor League Baseball

Tampa Bay Rays' Triple-A Affiliate to Honor Negro Leagues With New Identity For June Game

The Durham Bulls will play as the Durham Black Sox for their game on June 12.

Brady Farkas

Fans enter the stadium on game day at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022.
Fans enter the stadium on game day at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. / Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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On June 12 of this upcoming season, the Durham Bulls will play a game as the Durham Black Sox.

The Bulls are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and the new identity will be used to honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues.

The Bulls made the announcement on social media:

On this day in 1920, Negro Leagues baseball was born.

Once again this season, we'll be honoring the Bull City's Negro League teams by playing as the Durham Black Sox on Thursday, June 12.

The Bulls have highlighted the Black Sox in the past as well, and they feature this information on their website:

The Black Sox were one of several Negro League teams that played in the city of Durham, along with the Durham Eagles and Durham Rams, from the 1920s through 1963.

At the major league-level, the Rays are coming off a season in which they went 80-82 and finished fourth in the American League East. They missed the playoffs, but should have a decent chance of returning in 2025 thanks to the health of pitchers Shane McClanahan, Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen. Furthermore, the Rays have signed Gold Glove winner Ha-seong Kim this offseason and prospect Junior Caminero appears ready to take a big step in his career.

Fans who go and see the Bulls play this year will get a chance to see some of the top prospects in the organization as they are just one step away from the big leagues.

The Bulls open their season on March 28.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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