DBAP 30 For 30: Counting Down to Opening Night

As we celebrate the 30 years since Durham Bulls Athletic Park first opened on April 6, 1995, each day leading up to Opening Night on Tuesday, April 1 we'll be counting down (starting at 30, naturally), sharing significant achievements, milestones, and the various players and coaches who have been affiliated with the Durham Bulls in that time.

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10

Hall of Famer Chipper Jones' #10 was retired by the Durham Bulls in a ceremony on August 20, 2013. In 70 games with the Bulls as a 20-year-old during the 1992 season, Jones batted .277 (73-264) with 43 runs, 22 doubles, one triple, four homers and 31 RBI. He would go on to a 19-year career with the Braves, hitting .303 (2726-8984), adding 1,619 runs, 549 doubles, 38 triples, 468 homers, and 1,623 RBI.

11

Durham Bulls Athletic Park has hosted not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not ELEVEN ACC Baseball Championships, with the first coming in 1996. Virginia (1996, 2009, 11), Wake Forest (1998-99), UNC (2013, 19), Florida State (2015, 18), and Clemson (2016, 23) have all won ACC Baseball Championship titles at the DBAP, with the next edition coming in 2025!

12

The 2012 season saw Matsui Mania come to the DBAP, when the former Yankees slugger joined the Bulls after signing a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. He would play in 13 games with Durham from May 15-28, including eight games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Perhaps his most memorable and historic of those games came on May 17, 2012, when Matsui faced fellow countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Bull City.

13

In 2013, the Durham Bulls won their 13th league championship and fourth Governors' Cup title by besting the Pawtucket Red Sox three games to one in the five-game Governor's Cup Championship Series. Right-hander Merrill Kelly led the way in the series-clinching Game 4 with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball, while Kevin Kiermaier clubbed two hits, including a homer, while driving in three runs. The Bulls posted a league-best 87-57 mark in the regular season, and then swept the Indianapolis Indians in three games in their first round of the playoffs before topping Pawtucket.

14

The 2014 season saw Durham Bulls Athletic Park host the Triple-A All-Star Game, which saw the International League defeat the Pacific Coast League 7-3. Notable players from that contest include future Major Leaguers such as Joc Pederson, Kyle Hendricks, Christian Vazquez, Roberto Perez, Liam Hendriks, Dan Johnson, Jesus Aguilar, Steven Souza, Merrill Kelly, and more. At the end of the year, the Bulls organization would also be named as the recipient of the John H. Johnson Award as Minor League Baseball's Organization of the Year.

15

North Carolina native and 2011-13 Bulls pitcher Chris Archer wore #15 with Durham, combining for a 13-12 record and 3.53 ERA (191.0 IP) with 203 strikeouts and 91 walks over 37 starts. He would later return to the Bull City in 2021 as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment, posting an 0-1 mark and 3.86 ERA (14.0 IP) with 16 strikeouts and 3 walks in five starts. Over his ten-year Big League career, the Clayton native combined for a 63-69 record and 3.93 ERA (1,357.0 IP), adding 1,454 strikeouts and 476 walks over 243 appearances (240 starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays (2012-18, 21), Pittsburgh Pirates (2018-19) and Minnesota Twins (2022).

16

On August 22, 2015, southpaw Matt Moore struck out 16 of the 22 batters he faced in a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers at the DBAP to set the franchise's single-game strikeout record. Over his 13-year Major League career with the Tampa Bay Rays (2011-16), San Francisco Giants (2016-17), Texas Rangers (2018, 22), Detroit Tigers (2019), Los Angeles Angels (2023-24), Cleveland Guardians (2023) and Miami Marlins (2023) has combined for a 71-66 record and 4.39 ERA (1142.2 IP) across 369 appearances (164 starts), adding 1,053 strikeouts and 486 walks.

17

In 2017, the Durham Bulls won their second Triple-A National Championship by defeating the Memphis Redbirds 5-3. Kean Wong's fourth-inning grand slam put the Bulls in front for good en route to game MVP honors, while Brent Honeywell tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the win.

18

With a berth in the ACC Baseball Championship Game on the line, North Carolina beat NC State 2-1 in a marathon 18-inning game in front of 11,392 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the largest crowd ever to watch a college baseball game in the state. The six-hour contest was also the longest game in ACC Baseball Championship history. Another record-setting crowd of 8,697 would watch the Tar Heels beat Virginia Tech to win the ACC crown the next day, setting the high for an ACC Baseball Championship title game.

19

In 2019, Bulls infielder/pitcher Jake Cronenworth posted a .334 batting average (115-344) to become the International League batting champion. Across 94 games, he scored 75 runs while adding 26 doubles, four triples, ten homers and 45 RBI. He would go on to be acquired by the San Diego Padres in a trade prior to the 2020 campaign, and over five Major League seasons has accumulated a .247 mark (584-2361) along with 334 runs, 131 doubles, 24 triples, 69 homers and 310 RBI. Cronenworth would be the most recent Bulls player to become the International League's Batting Champion until outfielder Jake Mangum accomplished that feat during the 2024 season.

20

Bill Evers was the first skipper to manage the Bulls after the organization made the jump to Triple-A at the start of the 1998 season as the Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate. Over the course of eight seasons from 1998-2005, Evers compiled a 613-533 record along with six playoff appearances and two Governors' Cup Championships, and was the winningest manager in the franchise's history until he was surpassed by Charlie Montoyo on July 21, 2014. Evers would go on to be inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2012 and his #20 would be retired by the Bulls in a ceremony that season.

21

The 2021 Durham Bulls will go down as one of the most dominant teams in the long history of the franchise. In the organization's first year back after the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 campaign, the Bulls posted an astounding 86-44 record, winning 11 of their final 12 games, including their first nine games of the Triple-A Final Stretch postseason tournament, to claim the organization's third Triple-A National Championship.

22

In 2022, the Durham Bulls won their second consecutive Triple-A National Championship and fourth overall with a 10-6 victory over the Reno Aces in Las Vegas. LF Bligh Madris went 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI, while SS Tristan Gray capped a five-run ninth-inning rally to give the Bulls the comeback victory. Reliever Dusten Knight would then retire the side in order in the last of the ninth, punctuating the final out with his trademark backflip, to secure the win.

23

Andruw Jones at the age of 19 started the 1996 campaign in Durham and ended it in the World Series playing against the New York Yankees with the Atlanta Braves. Wearing the #23 with the Bulls, Jones hit .313 (76-243) with 65 runs, 14 doubles, three triples, 17 homers and 43 RBI en route to being named Minor League Player of The Year. He would go on to play in 38 games with Double-A Greenville and 12 contests with Triple-A Richmond before his call-up to Atlanta. Over 17 Major League seasons he batted .254 (1933-7599) with 1,204 runs, 383 doubles, 36 triples, 434 homers and 1,289 RBI across 2,196 games with the Braves (1996-2007), Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas Rangers (2009), Chicago White Sox (2010), and New York Yankees (2011-12).

24

The 2025 season has 24 post-game fireworks shows scheduled at Durham Bulls Athletic Park! That includes Opening Night, along with Friday Night Fireworks following every Friday evening home game, plus Saturday Night Fireworks after Saturday evening home contests starting on May 31, Independence Day Fireworks on Friday, July 4, and a special post-game fireworks show on Sunday, July 6! Click here to get your tickets now.

25

No Bulls skipper has won more games than #25 Charlie Montoyo, who managed in Durham for eight seasons from 2007-14. He posted a 633-515 record (.551), with his teams earning seven division crowns, two International League titles, and one Triple-A National Championship in 2009. On January 16, 2016, Montoyo was elected into the International League Hall of Fame. Later that year, he was honored in a pre-game ceremony and his #25 was retired by the organization. Montoyo would go on to manage the Toronto Blue Jays for four seasons from 2019-22, and is reportedly set to return to the Tampa Bay Rays in a minor league role.

26

Nobody has hit more home runs in a Durham Bulls uniform than #26 Chris Richard. From 2007-10, the outfielder pulverized International League pitching, combining for a .287 average (459-1604) with 269 runs, 117 doubles, seven triples, 84 homers, and 299 RBI across 450 contests. Richard would play in parts of five seasons at the Big League level, compiling a .255 clip (229-899) with 132 runs, 57 doubles, six triples, 34 homers and 122 RBI between the St. Louis Cardinals (2000), Baltimore Orioles, (2000-02), Colorado Rockies (2003) and Tampa Bay Rays (2009).

27

Top Rays prospect Willy Adames wore #27 during his first of two seasons with the Bulls, combining for a .280 average (210-751) with 110 runs, 39 doubles, 10 triples, 14 homers and 96 RBI across 194 contests with the Bulls. He was also a member of the 2017 Triple-A National Championship Bulls squad. One of his other most memorable moments in a Durham uniform came during the 2018 campaign, when he hit a grand slam off the Hit Bull Win Steak sign, winning him, and a lucky fan, a trip to Angus Barn. He has gone on to a successful Major League career, and enters the 2025 campaign having combined for a .248 average (800-3227) with 467 runs, 172 doubles, five triples, 150 homers and 472 RBI across 880 contests with the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-21) and Milwaukee Brewers (2021-24) before signing a free agent deal with the San Francisco Giants this past offseason.

Other Notable 27s: It takes 27 outs to win a nine-inning baseball game, including at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Hall of Famer Fred McGriff, who played in seven games with the Bulls as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment in 2004, wore #27 while playing with the Atlanta Braves from 1993-97.

28

After starting nine games for the Bulls in 2009, #28 Jeremy Hellickson returned to the Bull City and dominated, posting a 12-3 record and 2.45 ERA (117.2 IP) over 21 starts before being promoted to Tampa Bay and making his Major League debut on August 2. Despite missing the final month of the season due to his promotion, the 23-year-old finished the year leading the International League in earned-run average, in addition to ranking third in wins and sixth in strikeouts (123). He would return again in 2014, making five starts for Durham as part of an MLB Rehab Assignment. Over a combined 35 starts with the Bulls, Hellickson compiled a 19-8 record and 2.93 ERA (193.2 IP). adding 209 strikeouts and 55 walks. During his 10-year MLB career between Tampa Bay (2010-14), Arizona (2015), Philadelphia (2016-17), Baltimore (2017), and Washington (2018-19), he accumulated a 76-75 record and 4.13 ERA (1,269.1 IP), adding 929 strikeouts and 385 walks, earning American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2011, as well as a Gold Glove Award the following year.

Other Notable 28s: Bulls southpaw Blake Snell made a combined 28 starts for the Bulls between 2015-17, posting a 14-7 record and x.xx ERA (151.1 IP), adding 208 strikeouts and 56 walks.

29

Before going on to a stellar MLB career that included two World Series titles, Ben Zobrist wore #29 with the Durham Bulls between the 2006-08 seasons. In 99 games with the club, Zobrist hit .301 (109-362), adding 69 runs, 20 doubles, three triples, 11 homers and 41 RBI along with 16 stolen bases. Across his 14-year Major League career, Zobrist combined for a .266 batting average (1566-5880) with 884 runs, 349 doubles, 44 triples, 167 homers and 768 RBI, earning three All-Star nods. He would go on to win two consecutive World Series titles, first with the Kansas City Royals (2015) and then the Chicago Cubs (2016), winning World Series Most Valuable Player Award honors during the latter.

Other Notable 29s: Bulls catcher Toby Hall wore #29 with Durham as well during his time in the Bull City from 2000-02, which included a phenomenal 2001 campaign in which he was named the International League's Most Valuable Player.

30

In 2003, Bulls reliever Lee Gardner set the Bulls' single-season saves record by notching 30 saves across 57 outings with Durham. Gardner over five seasons with the Bulls from 2000-2005 tallied 77 saves, a record that will perhaps never be broken. The right-hander would pitch in the Major Leagues for parts of four seasons in 2002, 2005, and 2007-08, accumulating a 4-5 record and 3.01 ERA (101.2 IP) with two saves across 86 relief outings between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Florida Marlins. He would be inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2017, and to celebrate the occasion returned to the DBAP that year, with his son throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.

Other Notable 30s: 2013 International League Pitcher of the Year J.D. Martin wore #30 during his time with the Bulls, while current Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt also wore that number during his time in the Bull City.