NEWS

A bright glint on the high school diamonds of western North Carolina, Rusty Pulliam dreamed of pitching in the big league.

In 1976, with his diploma from Asheville’s T.C. Roberson High School and a full scholarship to Western Carolina in hand, Pulliam set off. He was second on the Catamounts’ pitching roster, and he didn’t lose a single game.

But the spring of 1977 also came with challenges at home. His parents had filed for divorce, and that May, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. His college career would have to take a detour.

“My mother and I had moved out from our home, my parents had split up, and so I felt like I needed to stay at home and take care of my mother,” he said.

He transferred to Montreat-Anderson, a junior college 18 miles east of Asheville (present-day Montreat College).

“I went from being a big fish in a big pond to a small fish in a smaller pond, but I needed to be there,” he said. “While I was at Montreat-Anderson, we played the No. 1 ranked junior college team in the U.S., Valencia College, in Orlando, Florida. We lost two-to-one, and they had mad players on that team that were drafted into the pros.

“While I was pitching that day, the head east coast scout for the Atlanta Braves, a man named Smokey Burgess, was there,” said Pulliam. “He was flying from Palm Beach to Columbia, South Carolina. Jack Rhine had just been named head baseball coach at Newberry College, and they happened to be sitting beside each other on the plane. Coach Rhine asked him if he saw any players that he would recommend for scholarships. And he gave him my name and said this is a kid who pitched a great game against a great team.”

The next day, the Pulliams’ phone rang. Rhine extended Rusty and his mother an invitation to visit Newberry, along with a full scholarship, if he wanted it.

“I did go down and visit and told Coach Rhine at the time, I had started having some issues with my pitching arm my sophomore year. I said I had pitched that year several times in pain and I didn’t know what was going on. And he said, ‘Well, that's not going to deter me from offering you a scholarship.’

“I went down to visit the school, and they had a great school of business. At that time, it was the No. 1 ranked school of business in South Carolina, headed up by Dr. Sandra Logan (1940 - 2014). I wanted to major in business, which I did,” he said.

Pulliam transferred to Newberry and got off to a great start. But during fall workouts and practices, it became clear that the twinge in his shoulder wasn't going away. Rhine pulled some strings and sent Pulliam to see the team doctor for the Boston Red Sox. Following the thrill of the proximity to greatness, the visit brought devastating news.

“They found that I had a torn labrum. They would’ve had to cut it wide open and he said your chances of ever coming back and pitching on a high level, whether it was college or pros, would be pretty much like two percent.

"That was the longest trip coming back from there with my dad, knowing that my baseball career was done,” he said.

After returning to Newberry, he voluntarily gave up his baseball scholarship, saying it could help another good player. He stayed on the team, however, and was able to pitch in four games his senior year.

After the diagnosis, Pulliam doubled down on his studies in business administration. Easier said than done, he said.

“It was a difficult core of business classes. It was kind of like going to boot camp, I mean, it put me through the wringer. When I graduated in 1980, there was only one other baseball player that finished in business. It was really tough,” he said. “It pushed me to study and broaden my mind and my skillset, going from being focused on being an athlete to more being focused on being a good student.”

He said that in some of his classes, like price theory, only one-in-three students passed, at least the first time. He said he had to really fight for each letter grade, but that the academic rigor eventually paid off.

“The discipline, knowing you’re doing something that most kids wouldn’t do. There were a lot of kids that dropped out of that major because it was so tough. But I learned a lot,” he said.

Between study sessions, Pulliam indulged in a burger, or two, at Dopey’s — the beloved dive on the edge of campus that served diner fare from 1950 until the owners’ retirement in 2017.

“When we would bet on games, we wouldn’t bet money. It was Dopey’s burgers,” he said. “Those were very fun times.”

Pulliam received his well-earned diploma in spring 1980, spent a few years in banking, and then took up real estate, his passion and success for the last 38 years. Today, Pulliam Properties is western North Carolina’s largest full-service commercial real estate firm, with 72 commercial projects developed across multiple states.

“I had four unique years in college, but I’ve had a career far greater than I could’ve dreamed of. My mom ended up beating cancer. I had two great years at Newberry that helped me to be very successful,” he said. “It was the best experience I could’ve had. I wouldn’t change that.”