Good season ends on bad note

By Dave Ricci (with additional info provided by Shawn Krest)

Three wins away. The Buffalo Bisons were just three wins away from capturing their first Governors Cup since 1998. In the opening round Buffalo dispatched Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in three-straight by scores of 12-4, 6-5 and 5-4. The Bisons appeared well on their way to winning their sixth Governors’ Cup in franchise history. Unfortunately they ran into a Durham Bulls’ team that just couldn’t be stopped. Durham, the Governors’ Cup runners-up in 1998 and 1999, blew past the Toledo in their opening round series sweeping the Mudhens.

The series opened on September 10 at Dunn Tire Park. Buffalo was unable to hold onto a 4-2 lead. The Bulls managed to tie the game. A downpour forced game one to be suspended in top of the 12th. The remainder of game one was played September 11th. With two out and a man on second Bulls rightfielder Emil Brown drove a Lance Caraccioli pitch down the right field line. It rapped off the foul pole and into the bleachers for home run. The Bisons went quietly in the 12th. Durham was up in the series 1-0.

Stunned by the loss in game one, the Bisons had nothing left in the tank emotionally for game two and it cost them. Durham jumped on Bison starter Brian Tallet scoring five runs in the third on their way to a, 8-1 win. Bulls starter Luis De Los Santos went the distance with seven strikeouts and no walks. Durham put the final nail in the coffin the next night with a 2-0 win at home. Durham won all six of their playoff games en route to their first Governors’ Cup.

Other Bison notes:

Zach Sorensen went 7-for-12 with 7RBIs in the opening round. After the finals pitchers Dave Maurer, Ryan Drese and Cliff Lee along with Earl Snyder, Brandon Phillips and Ben Broussard were called up to Cleveland.

2002 was an up and down year for the Herd. A slow start had them at the bottom of the North division early on. They put together three extended winning streaks one of ten wins and two nine game winning streaks. At one point they looked like they’d even surpass their 2001 mark of 91 wins. As the season headed into the final turn Buffalo had to fight off several teams but proved their worth by securing the wild card berth.

In the end Buffalo finished with the second best record in the I.L. (87-57). They were second overall in batting (.279) and team era (3.30). Third in saves (43). Chris Coste was third in the I.L. in hits’ (152) and Zach Sorensen led the I.L. in triples with 12. 2002 Bison team awards went to the following players. MVP: Chris Coste. Pitching MVP: Dave Maurer. Comeback and Inspirational player awards both went to Tim Laker. Community service: Zach Sorensen. Applause to the Bison organization for their very fine pre game ceremonies on September 11th.