The Downtown Bulls began their existence in 2004* in the ZBL as the Queens Yankees. They were a team filled with derelicts and scrubs but a team nonetheless. They battled to make it into the playoffs (as all teams did) and took the eventual runner up to extra innings in their only playoff game. They decided to change their team name to reflect their scrappy efforts and became the MadDogs for the next two seasons. Struggling to find the right chemistry and talent, the MadDogs were outsiders looking in come playoff time.

Once again, the philosophy of the team changed in 2007 to reflect the camaraderie, humor, and love of baseball's traditions. The new, cleaner approach caught the attention of multi-millionaire Fermin Bueno who bought the team** shortly after the team name was changed to the Downtown Bulls, ala the Durham Bulls from the film Bull Durham. Mr. Bueno then gave the team to David Poli as a birthday present. Shortly thereafter, David Morillo was hired as manager. The team struggled early on during the 2007 season starting 0-6 but finished strong, narrowly missing the playoffs.

Significant progress was made in 2008 when the Bulls finished 14-14-2 and made the playoffs. It was an early exit however, after they were swept in the first round. The Bulls matched their 2008 win total in 2009 going 14-16-2 but again narrowly missing the playoffs.


*The Downtown Bulls were created in the fall of 2006 after the MadDogs split up at the end of the 2006 summer season. The MadDogs remained in the league in 2007 but were banned during this time for conduct detrimental to the league putting an end to their franchise. The history carried over with founder David Poli and the Downtown Bulls.**Fermin Bueno is actually really poor and never bought the team. He also uses performance enhancing substances.