ELKVILLE, IL - Tyler Bullock, a DuQuoin Illinois native, was the Richmond RIver Rats 6'4", 277 pound catcher out of Southern Illinois University, who led the Prospect League in 2009, it's inaugural season with 14 home runs, twice as many home runs as any other player in the league.

Bulluck in that League's first season, had a 173 at-bats in 52 games, hitting .312 with a league leading 14 HRs and 47 RBIs, enough offense to win the first Prospect Player of the Year honors. Despite his prolific offense that season, the RiverRats finished the season in fourth place, four games back, two games below the .500 mark with a 26-28, record.

Bullock's best baseball season came in 2009, as a junior, winning the Player of the Year Award and the Home Run title for the RiverRats and back at SIU, he garnered 2009 All-MVC first team accolades as the Salukis designated hitter, finishing fourth in the MVC with 11 home runs and became the first SIU player since 2003 to hit 10 or more home runs in a season. He hit .292 that season to go along with the 11 homers and racked up a team-high 21 extra base hits and he scored an amazing 25 runs for the big man who spent most his time as the designated hitter and behind the plate.

Bullock would round out his career at SIU in 2010 to become SIU's second-leading home run hitter of all-time, knocking out 31 homers in three seasons. He joined Robert Jones (1984-86), as the only players to lead the team in home runs three-straight seasons.

The Southern Illinois Miners, of the Frontier league, signed Bullock to a contract in 2010 and the slugger hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Miners, as the legend of the Bull continued. He played two seasons for the Miners, in 2011, he hit just .197 with no home runs and only three RBIs in 24 games and 61 at-bats, in what was his final season in baseball.

The Richmond RIverRats, out of Richmond, Indiana were a member of the Prospect League from their founding in 2099 until the Rats last season in 2015. The RiverRats played in the 1,787-sear Don McBride Stadium until the club folded after the 2015 campaign.