Durham Bulls Manager
Bill Evers

Baseball returns to downtown Durham tonight as the Durham Bulls take on the Richmond Braves in their season opener at home at 7:00pm. The weeklong game stand begins with Mayor Nick Tennyson declaring April 5, 2001, as "Bill Evers Day," in celebration of the Bulls' winning manager. The honor cites Evers for managing the Bulls to the most wins (244) of any Triple-A team over the last three seasons, becoming the second active manager to achieve 1000 wins in the minor leagues.

The Bulls open the season with a stellar pitching staff, touted as "one of the more promising rotations at the Triple-A level" by Baseball America. The Bulls roster also includes three members of the Team U.S.A., the nation's gold-medal winning baseball team in the Sydney Olympics last year. Catcher Pat Borders and Second Baseman Brent Abernathy played for the Bulls during last season, while pitcher Bobby Seay will be making his debut at the DBAP. Manager Bill Evers returns to manage the Bulls for a fourth season, the sole Bulls Manager in their history in Triple-A.

The Bulls will play seven home games before traveling to Toledo to play the Mud Hens next Thursday night. Every game of this first week includes special promotions and famous faces as the Bulls celebrate their launch into 2001. The season's ten fireworks nights will begin Friday, as will the season-long promotion celebrating the ten greatest homeruns in the history of major-league baseball.