Sports: Arm in good health, feet on the ground

Arm in good health, feet on the ground

Bill Pulsipher has been a future star and a bust. Now he wants to be a solid major-leaguer.

By JOHN ROMANO

ST. PETERSBURG -- It was an impressive list of prospects in the Mets farm system, circa 1994-95. Carl Everett, Edgardo Alfonzo, Preston Wilson, Butch Huskey, Quilvio Veras, Rey Ordonez and Jay Payton, among others.

At the top of the list was a can't-miss pitching prospect. A hard-throwing left-hander from Virginia who was whipping through the minor-league system.

Bill Pulsipher was young, talented and headed to New York. It was like, he said, being on top of the world.

He never realized the world is forever spinning.

Pulsipher is half a career away from those days. Everett is a star in Boston now. Wilson in Florida. Alfonzo and Ordonez with the Mets. Pulsipher? He has spent time in St. Lucie, Binghamton, Norfolk, Louisville and Tucson. Mostly, he has spent time trying to find himself. His old self.

Now with the Rays, Pulsipher is a 27-year-old minor-league free agent trying to land a bullpen job.

"Top of the world is right. That's what I used to say. And that's not being cocky, that's just the way I felt," Pulsipher said. "I think I'm man enough to say things didn't work out. I probably didn't do things as good as I should have. I probably didn't take care of myself as good as I could have. When you're a young kid, your arm always feels good. You don't worry about it. You just throw the heck out of the ball.

"But that's all right, you can't look back."

There is not much reason for Pulsipher to look back. From the time he hit the majors in 1995, little has gone right for him. He was 5-7 with a 3.98 ERA as a rookie, but his season was cut short by a sore elbow. As it turned out, the elbow required major surgery that wiped out his 1996 season.

The ensuing seasons seemingly have found Pulsipher playing catch-up at every turn. There was back surgery. There were three trades. He never has spent a full season in the majors.

"I would like a chance to be a starter, if only to answer my own questions," Pulsipher said. "I had 17 starts in 1995 and, since then, I've had a few starts here, then back to the bullpen, a few starts here and then I get hurt. I just want to know if I can be a starting pitcher in the majors."

In '95, the question seemed academic. Pulsipher was part of a trio of young Mets pitchers that was supposed to lead the team to glory. Pulsipher, Paul Wilson and Jason Isringhausen came up through the farm system together and hit the majors within a year of each other.

"He would dominate games. Just dominate," Wilson said. "He thew in the low 90s and he didn't throw anything that stayed straight. It's hard enough hitting a pitch that's 90 mph, let alone when it's moving like his did.

"But even with all that, I don't know if we deserved the hype. I know we didn't deserve the hype. No one does. I always believe you have to go out and prove yourself first. ... It turned out we got hurt and we didn't get the job done. So no excuses. It all comes back to us."

Pulsipher went down first with the elbow injury late in 1995. Isringhausen had shoulder and elbow surgery in '96. Wilson followed with major shoulder surgery a few months later. None plays for the Mets.

Isringhausen's career was revived as a closer in Oakland. Wilson was traded to the Rays last year and is expected to make the rotation. Pulsipher is still waiting to establish himself. He pitched for the Mets and Brewers in 1998-99 and spent last season in Arizona's minor-league system, but was not impressive enough to earn a major-league contract.

He says he is as healthy as he has been in years. The velocity seems to be coming back and the arm feels fine.

"We're looking at him in a different role, in a different light. It's a fresh start for him, but it's up to him to take advantage," manager Larry Rothschild said. "He's throwing the ball fine, but for a guy like that, the games are going to be what dictates his future. His command and the ability to get the left-handed hitters out. He's been fine so far. His arm strength looks fine. We'll find out when the games start."

His career has seemingly been one long trial, but Pulsipher says it could be worse. He is 27 and left-handed, which makes him a commodity despite his troubles. He has friends, he said, who are already long gone from the game.

Baseball has a tendency to pigeonhole people. Pulsipher has seen both sides. He has been a phenom and he has been a bust. He believes the truth is somewhere in between.

"It's not fair, but I've done it myself. You look at a guy and you want to label him," Pulsipher said. "Whether it's fair or unfair, I've still got a chance. I'm still young and I'm healthy. That's all I can ask."