Bullington's selflessness will pay dividends

The night before his college career ended, Ball State pitcher Bryan Bullington sat in a hotel room in Bowling Green, Ohio, and weighed the value of being a team player against the lure of a multi-million-dollar payday.

It was May 24, and Ball State was one loss from being eliminated from the Mid-American Conference tournament. In the tourney opener, Bullington had given up seven runs in five innings and suffered his worst defeat of the season.

The coaches wanted to know if the right-hander could pitch out of the bullpen — on just two days rest — in a do-or-die game against Kent State.

Bullington knew that if he said yes, he might help his team earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. But he would run the risk of overworking and injuring his arm.

Bullington also knew he could be the No. 1 overall pick in the first-year player draft. If the Pirates select him Tuesday, Bullington could command a contract with a signing bonus of $4 million or more.

An injury, or even another poor outing, could make that dream disappear.

Bullington sat and thought for a long, quiet minute. Then he looked across the room at his parents, who had driven from their home in Madison, Ind., to see their son play.

"Dad, I'm not gonna let these guys down if they need me to pitch," he said.

Kent State got out to an early 4-0 lead, and Bullington began warming up. He wound up tossing six innings in relief, allowing five runs on seven hits.

Ball State rallied for a 16-9 victory, as Bullington earned his 11th win in 15 appearances this season.

After throwing 175 pitches over 11 innings in a four-day span, Bullington was gassed. He did not play in the MAC title game, which Kent State won, 13-4.

Even though Bullington's junior season ended with a thud, it did not dimish his standing in the eyes of the Pirates' scouts.

"It had a very minimal effect," scouting director Ed Creech said. "I'm not saying you don't think about it, but you can't let that be the determinant factor when making the pick."

Bullington is one of three players on the Pirates' short list of candidates for their first-round selection. His gritty approach is just as impressive as his darting fastball and hard-biting slider.

"Bryan's always been like a bulldog on the mound," Ball State manager Rich Maloney said. "I think that's just a Bullington thing. His father's a competitor and his mother's a competitor, too. It runs in the family, so it's natural that Bryan wants to win in everything he does."

Bullington's parents were standout athletes at Ball State. His father, Larry, is the Cardinals' third all-time leading scorer in basketball and is a member of the school's hall of fame. His mother, Mary, was on the swim team.

Bullington was a gym rat growing up, and learned to count backwards as a toddler by watching scoreboard clocks. His dad coaches one of the top high school boys basketball teams in Indiana.

"Being a coach's son can be a tough situation," said Bullington, who played three seasons for his father on the high school varsity team. "If the coach's kid is out there if he's not playing well, then people can get talking.

"What we always talked about was if I'm going to play for my dad, I've got to be one of the better players on the team. That was always a motivation."

Bullington played both baseball and basketball as a kid, but did not begin taking baseball seriously until his senior year in high school. That season, he went 15-0 with 134 strikeouts and a 1.49 earned run average and was named Indiana's Mr. Baseball.

Still, Bullington was lightly recruited by colleges and passed over by most pro scouts. He turned down the Kansas City Royals, who had drafted him in the 37th round in 1999, and set his sights on Ball State.

One afternoon, Maloney stopped by to watch Bullington play a summer league game. As he watched his prize recruit warming up, Maloney began to cry.

"I just watched him play catch in the outfield, and there were tears coming to my eyes," Maloney said. "I said, 'I can't believe this kid is coming to Ball State.' I thought he was one of the top prospects in the country at that moment. I honestly throught he was a first-rounder right then."

Because of injuries to two other pitchers, Bullington began his freshman year at Ball State as the No. 1 guy in the rotation. He went 9-4 with a 3.83 ERA and became only the second Cardinals freshman to earn spots on two All-America teams.

Last year, he set single-season school records for strikeouts (119) and innings pitched (108). During a MAC tournament game against Miami (Ohio), Bullington was hit in the face by a line drive.

"It didn't knock him down," Larry Bullington said. "It kind of stunned him."

The ball smacked off Bullington's right cheek, and his face was badly swollen before he even walked off the field. X-rays revealed several fractures, which would require surgery to repair.

"I was very lucky," he said. "Somebody was looking out for me that day. An inch or two either way, and it's not too good."

Bullington wanted to go back out and pitch. After all, Ball State still was in the tournament.

"The doctors we talked to told me pretty much it wasn't going to get any worse than it already was, unless, of course, I got hit again," he said. "But what are the odds of that happening, right• I wanted to give my team a chance to win."

Three days later, Bullington was back on the mound. Later that week, he had surgery and then left for the Team USA tryouts in Arizona. He has never given the injury a second thought since.

"Getting out there right away helped me with that," he said. "I was able to get back out on the mound instead of sitting around thinking about the injury. It really hasn't bothered me at all."

Bullington was named MAC pitcher of the year in 2001 and also earned a spot on the U.S. National Team. For Ball State this year, he went 11-3 with a 2.84 ERA. He struck out 139 batters and walked 18 in 104 ² / ₃ innings.

He throws a two-seam fastball which has been clocked at 92-94 mph with plenty of movement and sink. His four-seamer has run as high as 96 mph, but usually comes in at 94.

He used to throw a slurve, but now uses more of a standard curveball more often.

Early this season, Maloney realized pro scouts wanted to see a bit more versatility in Bullington's array of pitches, so the coach suggested adding a slider.

Bullington began working on the slider after dropping a game against Kentucky. He unveiled his new pitch a few days later, before a showdown against 17th-ranked Miami, Fla.

Bullington got 13 strikeouts, about half of them with the slider, and posted a 12-4 victory.

"It's significant not just because it was Miami," Maloney said. "But on that day there was every scouting director and several general managers in the stands. He knew they were all there, and he raised the bar even higher."

Maloney paused, smiling.

"The Bucs would be doing very, very well if they draft Byran," he said. "Really, he's the all-American kid. You're getting the total package."