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Bulls Win 2006 Freitas Award
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The Durham Bulls will be presented with the Freitas Award at the 2006 Baseball Winter Meetings. |
On Thursday, November 9, 2006, national baseball publication Baseball America announced the Durham Bulls have won the 2006 Bob Freitas Award, which recognizes the outstanding minor league operations at each level of minor league baseball. It is the Bulls first win at the Triple-A level and second in the 18 year history of the award. The Bulls also won the award in 1989 when they were the Class-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
“This is a tremendous honor and a real tribute to all of the hardworking members of the Durham Bulls staff,” Durham Bulls General Manager Mike Birling said, “I thank Baseball America for this award and our loyal fans who’ve played the greatest role in our success.”
Named after the longtime ambassador for the minors and field representative for the National Association for many years, the Bob Freitas Award is given annually to one team in every classification. Teams are selected based on sustained excellence on the business side of minor league baseball.
Regarding Durham’s selection as the 2006 winner, Baseball America editor Will Lingo wrote…
“The Bulls have gone from drawing around 350,000 fans a season in their first few years in the new ballpark as a Carolina League franchise, to draw about 500,000 fans a season as an International League franchise. One thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the team’s commitment to its community. From sponsoring local youth league teams to helping raise money for charitable groups such as the ALS Foundation, the franchise has always tried to weave itself into the fabric of Durham. Its Durham Bulls youth league spent more than $300,000 to renovate fields in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, and now more than 400 kids are able to play in the league at no cost. The team even buys their equipment, including gloves.”
To read the complete story, click on the following link: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/news/262762.html
Thanks to DBBC’s Matt DeMargel for this capcom story & photo.
POSTED: November 11, 2006
