In 1991, Mudcats owner Steve Bryant moved the team from Columbus, GA to Zebulon, NC, a Raleigh suburb. According to Brian DeWine, the team’s marketing director, the team hired local signpainters to bedeck Five County Stadium’s outfield wall with old-fashioned graphics. Note the logo-bearing water tower just beyond the leftfield wall. The scoreboard provides a handsome backdrop as instruments await a concert by country legend Patti Loveless following a game last season. Using a Lighthouse (Shatin, Hong Kong) LED display, Daktronics (Brookings, SD) built and assembled the team’s scoreboard. Although DeWine couldn’t disclose the team’s advertising revenue, he said a 10 x 20-ft. sign that bedecks an outfield wall for the entire season commands $6,000.
Photos by Nikolaus Johnson