The Bull Malarky - 1997 Special Edition - Doubleday Series

[cheekimonk]

The Bull Malarky
October 10, 1997
Hackensack, New Jersey
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As his players celebrated in the clubhouse, Ben Teague of the Hackensack Bulls took some time to reflect on his first post-season series as GM of the team. "Our guys never gave up. I tell ya, this is what October baseball is all about!," said Teague. That could be considered an understatement. The Bulls topped the Calgary Marauders in a Doubleday series that went the full seven games with every game but two being decided by one run and the others decided by two.

Not being able to generate much offense against Marauders pitching, it should come as no surprise that a Bulls pitcher was tabbed as MVP of the series. William "Fadeaway" Prushnok, the 32-year-old wiley veteran, started three games in the series and though he only earned one win his 1.96 ERA was evidence that he was able to baffle Calgary batters every time he took the mound. More impressive, said Teague, was the fact that he was able to go 8 innings twice and 7 innings once in his 3 starts. "In any playoff series, the other team is trying to get into your bullpen because they know the starters they will be facing are the best you've got. For Prushnok to go that long helped our team immensely in keeping the bullpen fresh."

Keeping the bullpen fresh was especially important considering that two of the games in the seven game series went into extra innings. Prushnok continued his superior form from the regular season where he turned in a 18-3 record with a 2.83 ERA. The Bulls now move on to the Cartwright Cup where they will face the surprising Austin Riverbats who stunned the Las Vegas Hustlers in six games.

[mad0die]

As expected my pen had some issues early in the series, but my offense was strong and we largely shut down the Hustlers offense. Kinda glad you won because I would have hated to lose to the team in the MBBA Championship that I traded all my prospects to! Calgary looking in real nice shaping going forward.