Bruce Vee Hurst (born March 24, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He is best remembered for his performance for the Boston Red Sox in the postseason, where he won two games while allowing only two runs total. Prior to the miraculous Game 6 comeback by the New York Mets, he was the presumed World Series MVP. Two days later, in Game 7, Hurst was sent out to pitch the decisive game for the Sox, but he left with a no-decision when Boston saw a three run lead turn into a tie in the sixth with Hurst on the mound (New York eventually won the game and the Series); Hurst pitched a total of 23 innings, most among any pitcher in the Series and allowed five earned runs. Early life Hurst grew up in St. George, Utah, the youngest of five children born to John and Beth Hurst who divorced when he was five years old. At an early age, doctors prescribed plaster casts to correct a condition that was causing his legs to bow. Hurst was a standout basketball player, leading Dixie High School to the state tournament in his junior and senior seasons, despite suffering a cracked vertebra as a senior, and would receive basketball scholarship offers. He played basketball at Dixie Junior College for the 1979-80 season. In 2015, Hurst told The Boston Globe that he would shoot hoops at Boston Celtics practices during his Red Sox days after developing a friendship with Celtics guard Danny Ainge. Hurst has attributed his early interest and development in baseball to a local coach and former Brigham Young University player who had him analyze magazine photos of pitcher windups, with Hurst practicing his own windup in front of a three-way mirror. Hurst caught the eye of MLB scouts after his junior year during an American Legion state tournament. He would average 14 strikeouts a game as a senior, compiling a 24-2 record for his prep career. Minor league career Hurst was selected by the Red Sox with the 22nd overall pick in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft, the 11th pitcher selected. The Red Sox assigned him to the Elmira Pioneers of the New York-Penn League, where Hurst was 3-2 with a 3.00 earned run average across nine starts. Hurst spent the 1977 season with the Winter Haven Red Sox in the Florida State League,