A review by writesdave
No Bull: The Real Story of the Durham Bulls and the Rebirth of a Team and a City by Ron Morris

emotional informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.5

My annual baseball read took me to Durham, N.C., where Ron Morris, longtime sports journalist, chronicled the rise of the Durham Bulls from their revival in the 1980 season through the movie to the present day (at least to the book's publication in 2017). It's a solid look at what it takes to run a minor-league baseball team, as well as a hefty dose of nostalgia from an old sportswriter, linking the early 1990s boom in minor-league baseball to the success of the Bulls after their founding. 

He captured the characters on the team well, devoting a final chapter to where each player landed after his time in Durham. You'll see a few familiar names, too, though again the personalities stand out. A good beat writer like Ron certainly knows a team well enough to bring out those characters.

Ron just needed a more strident editor to close a couple of narrative loops and check some facts. The style is a little dry, too, but I understand the desire to inform and chronicle. No, I couldn't have done any better.

Thanks to my buddy Alex, who knows Ron well, for loaning me the book.