Bulls Close 2000 Season – Capitol Broadcasting Company

Bulls Close 2000 Season

Bulls Fall to Indians in Playoffs
Bulls Break Attendance Record
Two Bulls Employees Pinned With Season-Ending Awards

Bulls Fall to Indians in Playoffs
The Durham Bulls lost their attempt for a third straight trip to the Governor’s Cup Championship Series in falling the Indianapolis Indians on Sunday night. The Bulls carried the best-of-five series to five games, after winning the second and third games in the series. The Indians went on to win the Governor’s Cup 1st Round Playoffs beating the Bulls 6-0 on Sunday night. The Indians will go on to face Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in best-of-five Governor’s Cup Championship.

The scores for the series:

Game 1 Bulls lost at Indianapolis (6-3)
Game 2 Bulls won at Indianapolis (9-0)
Game 3 Bulls won in Durham (11-3)
Game 4 Bulls lost in Durham (3-2)
Game 5 Bulls lost in Durham (6-0)

Bulls Break Attendance Record
Despite losing a chance to play in the Governor’s Cup Championship, the Bulls have had a stellar season in 2000 as evidenced by the fans. In their sixth season in their new stadium, the Bulls have broken an attendance record. 475,363 people attended Bulls games this season.

The previous record of 467,883 was surpassed on Sunday, August 27th, while the Bulls still had two more regular season games to go. Usually having 72 home games, the Bulls had three rainouts this year and still managed to increase attendance. Only one rainout occurred in 1998, a year that saw an average of 6,590 fans per game and welcomed the AAA to Durham. The ’98 season was the first in the expanded ballpark. The stadium was expanded to meet standards for the International League’s AAA teams. The Bulls affiliated with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that year, moving up from single-A.

Bulls Ticket Sales Manager Jon Bishop said that this 11 sell-out, 6,889-attendance average season is remarkable for the ball club for several reasons. Firstly, the Bulls broke the record in three fewer games than the old record. Secondly, the Bulls are in their sixth season in the new ballpark. Bishop said that even though the novelty has worn off, “the fans come back because they enjoy it.”

Two Bulls Employees Pinned With Season-Ending Awards
Durham Bulls employees believe in a high standard of customer service, and two such Bulls were rewarded for their efforts on Friday, September 8. Before the Bulls went on to defeat the Indians, Marti Wilson and Amanda Ireland both received the Bull Pin Award for the 2000 season.

Bull Pin awards are given throughout the season as an incentive program to keep gameday and permanent employees excited about serving the fans. Before each home game, the PA announcer tells the crowd about the Bulls dedication to customer service. If fans notice anyone going out of their way to provide an extra mile of service, they are encouraged to go to fan assistance and fill out a card in recognition of that employee.

The first time extraordinary assistance is noted by a fan, the employee automatically receives a Bull Pin award in the form of a pin (in the shape of a bull) to put on their name badge. To receive additional Bull Pin awards, the employee must receive the most “nominations” during a homestand. Some employees receive up to 50 or 60 recognition comments in a season, so this critera after the first award keeps them from having an unmanageable amount of pins to wear.

At the end of the season, the employee who wins the most homestands receives the Bull Pin Award for the season. This year Wilson and Ireland tied winning four homestands each. Both ladies received $200 bonuses for their extra-efforts.