The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in 1995.
Established as the Durham Tobacconists in the North Carolina League in 1902, the team subsequently disbanded and restarted numerous times. After a 10-year hiatus, it was reestablished as the Durham Bulls and played in the North Carolina State League from 1913 to 1917. The Bulls were members of the Piedmont League from 1920 to 1933 and for a second time from 1936 to 1943. Durham competed in the Carolina League from 1945 to 1971. For the latter part of this stretch, they merged with a team from Raleigh, becoming the Raleigh-Durham Mets (1968), Raleigh-Durham Phillies (1969), and Raleigh-Durham Triangles (1970–1971). The Durham Bulls returned as members of the Carolina League in 1980. They were replaced by an International League team in 1998. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's (MLB) reorganization of the minors in 2021, they were placed in the Triple-A East, but this was renamed the International League in 2022.
Durham has won 17 league championships. They won the Piedmont League championship six times (1922, 1924, 1925, 1930, 1940, and 1941). Though not affiliated with any MLB team for the first four, the Bulls were a farm club for the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers, respectively, for the last two. They won the Carolina League championship on three occasions: in 1957 with the Detroit Tigers, 1967 with the New York Mets, and 1969 with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Bulls have won the International League championship eight times (2002, 2003, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022), all as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Durham has gone on to win three Triple-A National Championship Games (2009, 2017, and 2022).
The 1988 film Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, featured the Bulls and Durham Athletic Park, the team's stadium at the time. Most of the filming was done at the ballpark following the end of the 1987 season.
History
Early years (1902–1926)
The Bulls were founded in 1902 as the Durham Tobacconists. The official date when the franchise formed was March 18.<!--1902,--> William G. Bramham, later President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (Minor League Baseball), was the first owner. The Tobacconists took the field for the first time on April 24 in an exhibition game against Trinity College. Their first game in the North Carolina League was at Charlotte on May 5 against the Hornets, and their first home game was against the New Bern Truckers on May 12. The league, however, folded in July, not having played a full season.
In December 1912, the Durham Tobacconists re-formed as the Durham Bulls in the North Carolina State League. Their first game was on April 24, 1913, at Hanes Field on the Trinity College campus (now the East Campus of Duke University). They defeated the Raleigh Capitals 7–4. On May 30, 1917, however, the North Carolina State League folded due to America's joining of the Allied Powers during World War I. The Bulls were declared league champions, even though the season was shortened to only 36 games.
In 1945, a second Carolina League formed. On April 27 the reactivated Bulls played their first game in the new league, defeating the Burlington Bees 5–0. Three years later, in September 1948, Tom Wright, a former Bulls outfielder, became the first Carolina League player to make it to the majors when he debuted with the Boston Red Sox. Three years after that, the Bulls helped make history when their 5–4 loss to the Danville Leafs featured the first black player in Carolina League history, Percy Miller Jr., who played for the Leafs.
thumb|The old bull from [[Durham Athletic Park, added during the filming of Bull Durham]]
The Bull Durham years (1988–1994)
Team owner Miles Wolff began pushing for a new ballpark for the Bulls in 1988 in order to attract Triple-A baseball, but stadium plans were pushed back for years. When the film Bull Durham was released in mid-1988, it led to a major resurgence of local popular interest in the team and their ballpark. Both the real Bulls and their movie counterparts played in the High-A Carolina League in the late 1980s. On August 30, 1990, a crowd of 6,202 made the Bulls the first Class-A team in history to pass the 300,000 mark in attendance for a season.
The Bulls were sold to the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company in 1991. Capitol president Jim Goodmon initially proposed building the new stadium near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, but after city leaders in Durham offered to renovate the old ballpark or help build a new stadium, the current downtown Durham site was secured. The 2015 season saw the Bulls set both a new single-game paid attendance record on July 4, and a new single-season paid attendance record, finishing with a cumulative mark of 554,788. In 2016, the Bulls had the franchise's second-highest attendance numbers and retired Montoyo's number 25. Overall, the team had their fourth losing season since 1998 and missed the playoffs.
2017 proved a watershed year for the Bulls, as they captured their first South Division championship since 2014 with an 86–56 record. The Bulls then won their second Triple-A National Championship, defeating the Memphis Redbirds after beating the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders for their fifth Governors' Cup title. Success continued in 2018; the team went 79-60 and won their second straight South Division championship and Governor's Cup before falling to Memphis in the National Championship.
Sandberg left before the 2019 season for a position with the Seattle Mariners. The Bulls hired Brady Williams as their 5th Triple-A manager. The team finished 2019 with a 75–64 record, making the playoffs as a wild card, and advanced to the Governor's Cup before losing to Columbus. After the season, Baseball America named the Bulls the most successful MiLB franchise of the 2010s.
Lost season, reorganization, and more championships (2020–present)
As a consequence of the worldwide onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minor League Baseball announced on June 30, 2020, that no season would be held, meaning that the Durham Bulls would not take the field again until the following spring.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Bulls were organized into the Triple-A East. In their first season in the league, the Bulls claimed the Triple-A East's championship with a 77–43 record. After the conclusion of the regular season, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage. Durham won the tournament with a 9–1 record. In 2022, the Triple-A East became known as the International League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization, which the Bulls had been members of since their move up to Triple-A.
Manager Brady Williams led the 2022 Bulls to win the Eastern Division title with an 86–64 record. They then defeated the Nashville Sounds, winners of the Western Division, in a single playoff game, 13–0, to win the IL championship. Durham faced the Reno Aces for the Triple-A championship, winning 10–6.
Playing under a split-season format in 2023 in which the teams with the best league-wide records at the end of each half qualified for the playoffs, Durham won the second-half title at 48–27. Overall, the team posted the league's second-best record, 88–62. In a single round of playoffs for the IL championship versus the Norfolk Tides, winners of the first-half, the Bulls were defeated, two games to one.
Season-by-season records
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:85%"
|+Key
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|League
|The team's final position in the league standings
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Division
|The team's final position in the divisional standings
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|GB
|Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFBBBB"|
|Class champions (1998–present)
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"|
|League champions (1902–present)
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"|*
|Division champions (1963–2022)
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#D0E7FF"|^
|Postseason berth (1902–present)
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders-multi" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|+Season-by-season records
!rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Season
!rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|League
!colspan="5" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid"|Regular-season
!colspan="3" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid"|Postseason
!rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|MLB affiliate
!class="unsortable" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
|-
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Record
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Win %
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|League
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Division
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Record
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Win %
!class="unsortable" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Result
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1902
| NCL
| 23–39
| .371
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1913
| NCSL
| 65–49
| .570
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1914
| NCSL
| 70–50
| .583
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1915
| NCSL
| 69–52
| .570
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1916
| NCSL
| 62–51
| .549
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1917
| NCSL
| 24–12
| .667
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1921
| PL
| 57–64
| .471
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1922<br />^
| PL
| 69–58
| .543
|
|
|
| 4–3
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won second-half title<br/>Won PL championship vs. High Point Furniture Makers, 4–3
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1923
| PL
| 49–74
| .398
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1924<br />
| PL
| 74–46
| .617
|
|
|
|
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won PL championship
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1925<br />^
| PL
| 68–58
| .540
|
|
|
| 4–3
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won first-half title<br/>Won PL championship vs. Winston-Salem Twins, 4–3
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1926<br />^
| PL
| 73–71
| .507
|
|
|
| 1–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won second-half title<br/>Lost PL championship vs. Greensboro Patriots, 4–1
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1927
| PL
| 48–95
| .336
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1928
| PL
| 40–91
| .305
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1929<br />^
| PL
| 85–51
| .625
|
|
|
| 1–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost PL championship vs. Greensboro Patriots, 4–1
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1930<br />^
| PL
| 71–68
| .611
|
|
|
| 4–3
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won PL championship vs. Henderson Gamecocks, 4–3
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1931
| PL
| 56–72
| .438
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1932
| PL
| 56–77
| .421
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Philadelphia Phillies
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1933
| PL
| 65–76
| .461
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| New York Yankees
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1936<br />^
| PL
| 79–63
| .625
|
|
|
| 3–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinals vs. Rocky Mount Red Sox, 3–1<br />Lost PL championship vs. Norfolk Tars, 3–0
| Cincinnati Reds
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1937
| PL
| 68–69
| .496
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Cincinnati Reds
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1938
| PL
| 64–71
| .474
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Cincinnati Reds
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1939<br />^
| PL
| 75–65
| .536
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Rocky Mount Red Sox, 3–1
| Cincinnati Reds
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1940<br />^
| PL
| 73–62
| .541
|
|
|
| 8–5
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won semifinals vs. Richmond Colts, 4–3<br/>Won PL championship vs. Rocky Mount Red Sox, 4–2
| Cincinnati Reds
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1941<br />^
| PL
| 84–53
| .613
|
|
|
| 8–1
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won semifinals vs. Norfolk Tars, 4–1<br/>Won PL championship vs. Greensboro Red Sox, 4–0
| Brooklyn Dodgers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1942
| PL
| 65–70
| .481
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Brooklyn Dodgers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1943
| PL
| 44–86
| .338
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Brooklyn Dodgers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1945
| CL
| 59–77
| .434
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Boston Red Sox
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1946<br />^
| CL
| 80–62
| .563
|
|
|
| 6–6
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinals vs. Greensboro Patriots, 4–2<br />Lost CL championship vs. Raleigh Capitals, 4–2
| Boston Red Sox
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1947<br />^
| CL
| 70–71
| .496
|
|
|
| 6–6
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinals vs. Winston-Salem Cardinals, 4–2<br />Lost CL championship vs. Raleigh Capitals, 4–2
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1948
| CL
| 63–79
| .444
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1949
| CL
| 70–72
| .493
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1950
| CL
| 73–79
| .480
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1951<br />^
| CL
| 84–56
| .600
|
|
|
| 1–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Reidsville Luckies, 4–1
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1952<br />^
| CL
| 76–59
| .563
|
|
|
| 3–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinals vs. Winston-Salem Cardinals, 3–0<br />Lost CL championship vs. Reidsville Luckies, 4–0
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1953
| CL
| 64–75
| .460
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1954<br />^
| CL
| 70–68
| .507
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Fayetteville Highlanders, 3–1
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1955<br />^
| CL
| 69–69
| .500
|
|
|
| 3–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms, 4–3
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1956<br />^
| CL
| 84–69
| .549
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Danville Leafs, 3–1
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1957<br />^
| CL
| 79–61
| .564
|
|
|
| 4–3
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won first-half title<br />Won CL championship vs. High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms, 4–3
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1958
| CL
| 58–79
| .423
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1959<br />^
| CL
| 70–60
| .538
|
|
|
|
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Wilson Tobs, 3–0
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1960
| CL
| 57–78
| .422
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1961
| CL
| 65–73
| .471
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Detroit Tigers
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1962<br />^
| CL
| 89–51
| .636
|
|
|
| 5–4
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won semifinals vs. Alamance Indians, 2–0<br />Lost CL championship vs. Kinston Eagles, 4–3
| Houston Colt .45's
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1963<br />^
| CL
| 78–65
| .545
|
|
|
| 2–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Lost semifinals vs. Greensboro Yankees, 3–2
| Houston Colt .45's
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1964
| CL
| 54–82
| .397
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Houston Colt .45's
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1965<br />*
| CL
| 83–60
| .580
|
|
|
| 2–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Western Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Greensboro Yankees, 2–1<br />Lost CL championship vs. Tidewater Tides, 2–0
| Houston Astros
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1966
| CL
| 62–76
| .449
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Houston Astros
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1967<br />*
| CL
| 74–64
| .536
|
|
|
| 5–1
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won Western Division title<br />Won quarterfinals vs. Burlington Senators, 1–0<br />Won semifinals vs. Lynchburg White Sox, 2–0<br />Won CL championship vs. Tidewater Tides, 2–1
| New York Mets
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1968<br />*
| CL
| 83–56
| .597
|
|
|
| 3–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Eastern Division title<br />Won quarterfinals vs. Peninsula Grays, 1–0<br />Won semifinals vs. Wilson Tobs, 2–1<br />Lost CL championship vs. High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms, 2–0
| New York Mets
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|1969<br />^
| CL
| 79–62
| .560
|
|
|
| 6–2
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won quarterfinals vs. Kinston Eagles, 2–0<br />Won semifinals vs. Peninsula Astros, 2–1<br />Won CL championship vs. Burlington Senators, 2–1
| Philadelphia Phillies
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1970
| CL
| 77–63
| .550
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1971
| CL
| 56–80
| .412
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Unaffiliated
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1980<br />*
| CL
| 84–56
| .600
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won First and Second-Half Northern Division titles<br />Won Northern Division title<br />Lost CL championship vs. Peninsula Pilots, 3–1
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1981
| CL
| 70–68
| .507
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1982<br />^ *
| CL
| 80–56
| .588
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won First-Half Southern Division title<br />Won Southern Division title vs. Peninsula Pilots, 1–0<br />Lost CL championship vs. Alexandria Dukes, 3–0
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1983
| CL
| 59–78
| .431
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1984<br />^ *
| CL
| 68–72
| .486
|
|
|
| 3–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won First-Half Southern Division title<br />Won Southern Division title vs. Peninsula Pilots, 2–0<br />Lost CL championship vs. Lynchburg Mets, 3–1
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1985
| CL
| 66–74
| .471
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1986
| CL
| 72–68
| .514
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1987
| CL
| 65–75
| .464
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1988
| CL
| 82–58
| .586
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1989<br />*
| CL
| 84–54
| .609
|
|
|
| 1–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won First and Second-Half Southern Division titles<br />Won Southern Division title<br />Lost CL championship vs. Prince William Cannons, 3–1
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1990
| CL
| 71–68
| .511
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1991
| CL
| 79–58
| .577
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1992
| CL
| 70–70
| .500
|
|
|
|
|
| Lost First-Half Southern Division title
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1993
| CL
| 69–69
| .500
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1994<br />^
| CL
| 66–70
| .485
|
|
|
|
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won Second-Half Southern Division title<br />Lost Southern Division title vs. Winston-Salem Spirits, 2–0
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1995
| CL
| 63–76
| .453
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|1996<br />^
| CL
| 73–66
| .525
|
|
|
| 1–2
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won First-Half Southern Division title<br />Lost Southern Division title vs. Kinston Indians, 2–1
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|1997
| CL
| 63–76
| .453
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Atlanta Braves
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1998<br />*
| IL
| 80–64
| .556
|
|
|
| 5–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Louisville Redbirds 3–0<br />Lost IL championship vs. Buffalo Bisons, 3–2
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|1999<br />*
| IL
| 83–60
| .580
|
|
|
| 4–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Columbus Clippers 3–0<br />Lost IL championship vs. Charlotte Knights, 3–1
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2000<br />*
| IL
| 81–62
| .566
|
|
|
| 2–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Lost semifinals vs. Indianapolis Indians 3–2
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2001
| IL
| 74–70
| .514
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|2002<br />*
| IL
| 80–64
| .556
|
|
|
| 6–0
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Toledo Mud Hens 3–0<br />Won IL championship vs. Buffalo Bisons, 3–0
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|2003<br />*
| IL
| 73–67
| .521
|
|
|
| 6–1
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Louisville Bats 3–1<br />Won IL championship vs. Pawtucket Red Sox, 3–0
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|2004<br />^
| IL
| 77–67
| .535
|
|
|
| 2–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won wild card berth<br />Lost semifinals vs. Buffalo Bisons 3–2
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2005
| IL
| 65–79
| .451
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2006
| IL
| 64–78
| .451
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2007<br />*
| IL
| 80–63
| .559
|
|
|
| 5–3
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Toledo Mud Hens 3–0<br />Lost IL championship vs. Richmond Braves, 3–2
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2008<br />*
| IL
| 74–70
| .514
|
|
|
| 4–4
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Louisville Bats 3–1<br />Lost IL championship vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3–1
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFBBBB"|2009<br />*
| IL
| 83–61
| .576
|
|
|
| 7–2
|
| bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Louisville Bats 3–2<br />Won IL championship vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3–0<br />Won Triple-A championship vs. Memphis Redbirds, 1–0
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2010<br />*
| IL
| 88–55
| .615
|
|
|
| 4–5
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Louisville Bats 3–2<br />Lost IL championship vs. Columbus Clippers, 3–1
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2011<br />*
| IL
| 80–62
| .563
|
|
|
|
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Lost semifinals vs. Columbus Clippers 3–0
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|2013<br />*
| IL
| 87–57
| .604
|
|
|
| 6–2
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Indianapolis Indians 3–0<br />Won IL championship vs. Pawtucket Red Sox, 3–1<br />Lost Triple-A championship vs. Omaha Storm Chasers, 0–1
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#DDFFDD"|2014<br />*
| IL
| 75–69
| .521
|
|
|
| 5–4
|
| bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Columbus Clippers 3–1<br />Lost IL championship vs. Pawtucket Red Sox, 3–2
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2015
| IL
| 74–70
| .514
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2016
| IL
| 64–80
| .444
|
|
|
|
|
| —
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFBBBB"|2017<br />*
| IL
| 86–56
| .606
|
|
|
| 7–2
|
| bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Indianapolis Indians 3–1<br />Won IL championship vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 3–1<br />Won Triple-A championship vs. Memphis Redbirds, 1–0
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFE6BD"|2018<br />*
| IL
| 79–60
| .568
|
|
|
| 6–4
|
| bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Won Southern Division title<br />Won semifinals vs. Toledo Mud Hens 3–1<br />Won IL championship vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 3–2<br />Lost Triple-A championship vs. Memphis Redbirds, 0–1
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#D0E7FF"|2019<br />^
| IL
| 75–64
| .540
|
|
|
| 3–3
|
| bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Won wild card berth<br />Won semifinals vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3–0<br />Lost IL championship vs. Columbus Clippers, 3–0
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2020
| IL
| colspan="8"|Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)
| Tampa Bay Rays
| <br />Won series vs. Norfolk Tides, 4–1<br />Placed 1st in the Triple-A Final Stretch
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:#FFBBBB"|2022<br />*
| IL
| 86–64
| .573
|
|
|
| 2–0
|
| bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|Won Eastern Division title<br />Won IL championship vs. Nashville Sounds, 1–0
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|2025
| IL
| 85–64
| .570
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tampa Bay Rays
|
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Totals
! —
! 7,035–6,583
!
! —
! —
! —
! 173–146
!
! —
! —
! —
|}
Radio and television
All Bulls home and road games are broadcast on 96.5 FM Buzz Sports Radio. Live audio broadcasts are also available online through the team's website and the MiLB First Pitch app. Select home games are televised on Me-TV 50.2, and all home games are broadcast by WRAL Sports+. All home and road games can be viewed through the MiLB.TV subscription feature of the official website of Minor League Baseball, with audio provided by a radio simulcast.
Former play-by-play announcers include Gary Cohen, who was the Voice of the Bulls in 1986 and became part of the New York Mets' broadcast team in 1989, Steve Barnes (who also was the Duke women's basketball radio play-by-play announcer), and Neil Solondz, who was with Durham from 2004 to 2011 before being hired by the Tampa Bay Rays. Patrick Kinas has been the announcer since 2012.
Broadcasts are produced by members of Explorer Post 50, a youth-based group for students who have completed middle school and are 14 to 20 years old. The program provides youth with hands-on experience in television production.
Current roster
Achievements
Awards
thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=A baseball coach in gray and navy blue|[[Charlie Montoyo won the 2009 Mike Coolbaugh Award and the 2010 and 2013 IL Manager of the Year Awards.]]
These honors have been awarded to the franchise or its personnel by Minor League Baseball.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Minor League Baseball awards
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="210px"|Award
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="100px"|Recipient
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Season
!class="unsortable" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
|-
|John H. Johnson President's Award
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|—
|1989||
|-
|John H. Johnson President's Award
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|—
|2014||
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Carolina League awards
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="210px"|Award
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="100px"|Recipient
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Season
!class="unsortable" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
|-
|Most Valuable Player
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
|1962||
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+International League awards
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="210px"|Award
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid" width="100px"|Recipient
!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Season
!class="unsortable" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
|-
|Most Valuable Player
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
|1999||
|-
|Most Valuable Pitcher
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
|2010||
|-
|Executive of the Year
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
|2003||
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Name
! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Season(s)
! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Position
! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|Retirement date
! scope="col" class="unsortable" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#b15c12 5px solid; border-bottom:#0054a4 5px solid"|
|-
|8
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| <!-- The character, not the real person. -->
| — || Catcher || July 4, 2008 ||
|-
|10
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
| 1992 || Shortstop || August 20, 2013 ||
|-
|18
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
| 1963 || Second baseman || June 17, 1993 ||
|-
|20
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
| 1998–2005 || Manager || May 19, 2012 ||
|-
|25
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
| 2007–2014 || Manager || May 19, 2016 ||
|-
|42
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|
| — || Second baseman || April 15, 1997 ||