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DALLAS _ Getting hit in the face with a line drive last spring could turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to pitcher Bryan Bullington.
It surely didn't seem that way at the time, but when the right-hander from Ball State returned to the mound just three days later to pitch in the championship game of the Mid-American Conference tournament, scouts around the country took notice. Bullington not only had arguably the best stuff and command of any collegiate pitcher available in the 2002 draft, but he proved he was tough as nails.
"That is definitely a story you like to hear," said Mark McKnight, national scouting coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who hold the No. 1 pick in this year's two-day, 50-round draft that begins Tuesday.
"You hate that he got hit by the ball. But when you're looking for a pitcher, you want a guy that's got ability and has some fire and some bulldog in him. Heck, a lot ...