THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504140549
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
There are few stages in baseball more electric than opening night, and no other place where Bill Pulsipher would rather spend his time.
Thursday, he spent exactly two hours and five minutes in the spotlight, a swift turn that awoke Harbor Park to a third season of baseball with one of the finest games ever pitched within its walls.
The Norfolk Tides' 21-year-old prodigy, a showman and lefthanded pitcher of huge potential, entertained the first-night crowd of 10,069 with a two-hit, 3-0 masterpiece over the Rochester Red Wings that was up to every line of his sterling advance notices.
``That's me about as good as I can be,'' said Pulsipher, who, in front of his father and stepmother down from Fairfax, walked two, hit one, struck out six and allowed few hard-hit balls in his nine innings. ``I wanted to show the crowd a good time tonight. There were some home runs hit and a great-pitched ballgame. I'm sure that's what the fans enjoyed, and I definitely enjoyed it.''
In a way it was a usual opening night at Harbor Park: The Tides had recorded 2-0 first-game victories there in each of the last two seasons. But it also was a rare evening that featured a wind blowing out to rightfield, which lefthanded hitters Frank Jacobs and Derek Lee exploited for home runs that helped spoil an otherwise strong seven innings by Rochester starter John DeSilva.
Jacobs mashed his home run, his first Triple-A hit, into the trees beyond the rightfield fence in the fourth to bump the Tides' lead to 2-0. They had struck in the third when Lee scored Jarvis Brown from third with a two-out infield single.
Then, in the sixth, Lee went deeper than Jacobs, but his blast was intercepted by the scoreboard in right-center. Lee's second home run of the season gave the Tides (5-2) a 3-0 lead, more than enough for Pulsipher, who rebounded from a shaky, albeit winning, six-hit, six-walk debut last week in Charlotte.
``He had really good stuff today,'' said Junior Noboa, Rochester's veteran second baseman. ``The umpire was giving him the corners and he was putting it there all night long. His ball was moving inside and sometimes to the outside to righthanded hitters. You have to give him a lot of credit.''
Pulsipher, who pitched a no-hitter in the Double-A Eastern League championship series last year, worked out of trouble in the second when the Red Wings (4-2) loaded the bases on a walk, an error and a hit batsman. He did not yield a hit until Scott McClain singled to left to begin the fourth.
Rochester had only one more baserunner, on an error, until T.R. Lewis started the ninth with a line-drive single to left. But Pulsipher struck out Tyrone Woods and got McClain to bounce into a double play to end the game.
``I'm not saying I had my best velocity tonight, but I was in the strike zone consistently,'' said Pulsipher, who flipped the game ball over the backstop to his father upon leaving the field.
``My ball was moving both directions, and when I needed that extra mile per hour or two on a fastball, I could get it. So that's a great outing for me.''
A poor spring training and last week's inconsistent start already had him impatient for better things. Concentrated effort in the bullpen the past week with pitching coach Bob Apodaca, focusing on rhythm and mechanics, helped nudge him toward his latest effort, Pulsipher said.
``I told myself I've gotta start doing it,'' he said. ``I've been waiting for that all spring. It's what I expect every time out there. I can't always get it, but it's what I expect.'' ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN
Staff
[Color Photo]
It was celebration time in the Tides' dugout following a
sixth-inning home run by Derek Lee, right. Frank Jacobs, left, had
homered in the fourth.
by CNB