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Exhibition Game To Kick-Off Bulls 100th Anniversary Celebration |
A few former Durham Bulls players are coming back to their home field to help the Triple-A club kick off its 100th anniversary season in 2002. For only the second time ever, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will take on their minor league affiliate Bulls in a pre-season exhibition game at the Durham ballpark.
The entire starting infield for the Devil Rays (catcher Toby Hall, 3rd baseman Jared Sandberg, short stop Chris Gomez, 2nd baseman Brent Abernathy, 1st baseman Steve Cox) are home grown players that came through Durham. In fact, 23 players from last season’s Durham Bulls team played with the Devil Rays last season, including International League MVP Toby Hall.
An astounding 15 rookies played for the Devil Rays last season, with 13 of them coming through Durham. The young Devil Rays had an obvious impact considering Tampa Bay’s 27-61 record before the Major League All-Star Break compared to a 35-39 record after it. And, the Devil Rays have two of the last three International League MVP’s on their team. Toby Hall, who batted .335 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI in 2001, and Steve Cox, who batted .341 with 25 home runs and 127 RBI.
The Bulls and the Devil Rays will go head to head on Saturday, March 30th. Game time is 2:00pm. For tickets call (919) 956-BULL.
The Durham Bulls open their 2002 regular season play on Thursday, April 4, at the Richmond Braves, with the winningest manager in Bulls history, Bill Evers at the helm.
