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Durham Sweeps Governors' Cup
Bulls 2002 International League Champions

Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com

For any team, in any sport, playoff time is the time you want your team to be playing its best.

To win a championship takes a combination of talent, skill, and a little bit of luck.

To go undefeated in the postseason, well that is almost impossible.

I said almost.

Four Durham pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the Bulls won their first International League baseball championship, defeating the Buffalo Bisons 2-0 to complete a three-game sweep in the best-of-five series.

Durham won all six of their postseason games this year, becoming just the fifth team in the last 70 years to sweep both best-of-5 rounds in the Governors’ Cup Playoffs.

Bulls manager Bill Evers, who has been able to lead his team to South Division championships in four of five seasons with a different formula every time, acknowledged after Thursday’s win that he hadn’t foreseen a championship.

"Coming out of spring training, we never thought we’d be in this situation," said Evers, the only manager the Bulls have had in Triple-A. "But the staff did a great job, and I give [trainer] Paul Harker a lot of credit for keeping these guys healthy.”

"The guys understood what we needed to do to be successful, and they understood this is a "team" and not "me."

This was Durham’s third appearance in the league championship series in their five IL seasons.

The Bulls’ last championship was in the Class A Carolina League; the Raleigh-Durham Phillies won the CL title in 1969. Durham won seven league titles in the Piedmont and Carolina Leagues between 1922 and 1967.

It seems Buffalo never emerged from an offensive funk that suddenly struck midway through Game One.

Luis De Los Santos pitched a five-hitter for Durham in Game Two and Gerardo Garcia pitched six no-hit innings Thursday.

Buffalo outfielder Chad Allen's single up the middle leading off the seventh was the Bisons’ only hit of the night.

"Pitching is all there is to it and they beat us, no question," Allen said. "Garcia and De Los Santos both spotted their fastball, threw their curveball for strikes and when you do that, you're going to win.

"On paper, I thought we had a better team. But when you go to the playoffs, it's all about pitching. The Yankees and Arizona have proved that."

"Their pitching was outstanding and you tip your cap to both of their starters the last two days," said Buffalo manager Eric Wedge. "It wasn't a situation where we didn't compete, it was just that those two guys (De Los Santos and Garcia) really brought it to us."

"It's no fun to lose but you have to realize what this group has done was pretty special," Wedge said. "With all the moves that have gone on (with the parent Cleveland Indians), they still were in contention for a championship. You never like to fall short but they took it right to the last out."

A boisterous crowd of 5,229 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park came prepared for a sweep as several fans walked the concourse with Bulls pennants attached to brooms. They got their wish.

When International League President Randy Mobley presented the Bulls with the Governors' Cup on the field, Evers took the trophy and raised it over his head Stanley Cup-style as the crowd roared its approval.

"It's a dream come true," said Evers, who lost in the IL finals to the Bisons in 1998 and to Charlotte in 1999. "I've won at other levels, but Triple-A is a tough situation with all the transactions you have. This is very rewarding."