SIDELINES : Durham Bulls of Movie Fame Not for Sale, Japan Team Told

Japanese major league team recently offered to buy an interest in the Durham Bulls after seeing the movie about the minor league club, but Bulls President Miles Wolff said the team is not for sale.

Wolff said the Japanese team worked through a contact in Greensboro to negotiate a possible purchase of the Bulls. Wolff said he does not know which Japanese team is interested in his Class-A franchise, and he would not name the contact in Greensboro.

“It’s not for sale,” he said. “They were really interested in getting a Triple-A team, so now I’ve been talking more to them in terms of what Triple-A teams might be available.”

Wolff said his Greensboro contact told him the Japanese club became interested in the Bulls through “Bull Durham,” a box-office smash in the summer of 1988 that was set in Durham.

“The factor for them was that we might have a chance down the road to go Triple-A,” Wolff said. “But I don’t think they realized that we were in the situation of trying to get a new stadium.”

Wolff and the Bulls are awaiting the results of a proposed $11.28-million bond issue for a new downtown stadium. A referendum is set for March 13.