Long Island Ducks baseball Bill Pulsipher Dave LaPoint Brian Bohl Randy Leek John Halama Atlantic League- SuffolkJournal.com

Counting on a Strong Playoff Pulse

Ducks Bring back Pitcher Bill Pulsipher

by Brian Bohl

August 29, 2007

It wouldn’t be a complete summer for the Long Island Ducks without Bill Pulsipher. The veteran left-hander will make it four consecutive seasons he played at least a part of a season with the club, agreeing to contract terms after the Mexican League season concluded.

Pulsipher, who pitched on the 2004 championship team, is one of four Duck players to make it back to the major leagues after a stint in the Atlantic League. With staff ace Randy Leek signed away by the Blue Jays’ organization and Donovan Osborne nursing a tired arm, manager Dave LaPoint added another healthy starter to close out the stretch run. The Ducks lead Newark by five games in the North Division, inching closer to a playoff spot with just 17 regular season games remaining after Wednesday.

During the last homestand, LaPoint said he formulated his potential postseason rotation, which pencils in Leek, Davis, and Osborne for the best-of-three first-round series. After the Triple-A season wraps up, Leek will likely return to the Ducks; but his return is not guaranteed. Meanwhile, Osborne still struggles to get healthy. Davis has also been knocked around in August, necessitating outside reinforcements.

“Bill has been a major contributor to our successes on the field the past three years,” general manager Michael Pfaff said in a statement. “We’re excited to have him back in a Ducks uniform for this final push to the playoffs,” he added.

The Ducks are in the middle of a nine-game road trip through Somerset, Lancaster, and Newark. The three-game series against the Bears, starting Friday, could be where the Ducks clinch the second-half title, allowing them to go for the team’s second championship in four seasons.

LaPoint said last week he would add a starter, though he insisted there was enough in-house talent to make it past the two rounds and win the Atlantic League title.

“In my mind, I already got what I want for the playoff rotation,” manager LaPoint (pictured at left) said at the time. “It’s a matter of getting Lance back on track and getting Ozzie healthy. We’re still all set when you get to the playoffs, because you only need four starters anyway.”

Pulsipher is the leading candidate to grab one of those four spots. A good start could even mean a turn in the rotation in the short first round, where only two or three starters would be required depending on the series length. Osborne was placed on the inactive list, keeping Ed Yarnall and John Halama in the mix to pitch in the playoffs.

A former Mets’ prospect, Pulsipher finally emerged as a key contributor to a championship New York-based baseball team when he went 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 2004, helping the Long Island franchise win its first championship. He made it back to the big leagues with the Cardinals in 2005. The 33-year-old is 13-19 with a 5.15 ERA in 106 appearances over parts of six MLB seasons.

Over the past two weeks, the Ducks finalized 12 roster moves, the product of suspensions, signings, and even a trade. Kevin Mannix was recalled from the Road Warriors. Eric Colon was signed to provide depth at catcher. Carl Everett is on leave this week to be with his family in Florida. Former Reds’ outfielder Reggie Taylor came in to take his place, but LaPoint was forced to give up Dionys Cesar to complete the trade with Lancaster. Cesar, who took over the everyday duties at second base after Jose Offerman’s suspension, batted .355 with eight RBI and 11 runs scored in 24 games while with Long Island.

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